Hello EVE,
You go into space, grab loot, and extract safely.
This makes EVE the first mainstream extraction game, with a persistent world and player-driven economy on top. Yet modern extraction games explode to hundreds of thousands of players daily without these innovative concepts. How did CCP, the genre’s pioneer, get left behind? What is turning people off from EVE Online?
You aren’t wrong when they say EVE Online was essentially the first mainstream extraction game. The core loop has always been the same: you go into dangerous space, take risks, grab loot, and try to extract safely. But what turns many people away today isn’t the idea itself. It’s everything surrounding it.
The risk–reward loop is brilliant, but also extremely punishing compared to modern extraction games. In most modern titles, a failed run means you simply queue again in seconds and keep progressing. In EVE, however, a single mistake can cost hours or even days of work. That harshness gives the game meaning, but it’s also overwhelming for new players who aren’t prepared for real loss.
On top of that, the onboarding experience is still difficult. Even after years of attempts to improve it, the game throws newcomers into a world filled with unfamiliar terminology, layered systems, and a steep learning curve. Modern extraction titles polish the early experience so players feel competent quickly; EVE still feels like trying to learn how to fly a spacecraft from a manual.
The social barrier is another problem. EVE is at its absolute best when you join a corporation and participate in fleet activity, but doing so requires navigating social dynamics, politics, voice comms, fleet etiquette, and expectations that intimidate solo or casual players. Meanwhile, popular extraction games today let you jump in alone with no long-term commitments.
There’s also the issue of pacing. Contemporary extraction games focus on short, intense sessions where action is frequent and dopamine hits are steady. EVE, by design, often involves long travel times, waiting, preparation, and multi-hour fleets. For players who want quick sessions, this feels incompatible with modern gaming habits.
All of this is amplified by EVE’s reputation. Many potential players never even try the game because they believe it’s too hard, too old, or too complex. The perception alone filters out thousands of people who might otherwise enjoy it.
In the end, CCP Games built a universe centered on depth, consequence, and player-driven drama. That makes it incredibly powerful for the niche that loves it—but it also limits its mass-market appeal. EVE isn’t being left behind because the concept is outdated; it’s simply that modern gamers want the thrill of extraction without the long-term commitment and harsh consequences that define EVE’s identity.
Risk taking in EVE seems like a choice, for example you dont have to risk hours or days of work. So it’s not what’s pushing players off. Something else is.
Because EVE isn’t a “push button, receive bacon” MMO. The perceived level of difficulty and steep learning curve keeps most of the riff raff out, thankfully.
I think there is an issue with players expecting the game to behave in a certain way but then it doesent. Too much of this can be a turn off.
For example a mining crit mechanic has been introduced, players expect it to work on mining missions but it doesent.
You can call this a steep learning curve but in reality it just seems like bad game design.
I get what you’re saying, but the problem isn’t just risk as a choice. It’s the way EVE structures that risk and the friction that comes with it.
Yes, technically you don’t have to risk hours or days of work—but the game constantly pressures you toward activities where the risk-to-reward gap is huge. A single mistake, disconnect, or unexpected player interaction can erase an enormous amount of progress, and the game doesn’t do much to ease that for newer or returning players.
On top of that, extraction-style gameplay in modern titles feels smooth, fast, and accessible. You jump in, extract loot, get out, and you’re right back in the action. EVE, meanwhile, wraps all of that in layers of logistics, travel time, waiting, structure mechanics, market management, and social dependence.
The result is that even though EVE technically pioneered the extraction-loop idea, its version demands more time, more planning, and more punishment than people are used to. That’s a big part of what pushes players away. Not just that risk exists, but that the experience around the risk feels slow, punishing, and outdated by today’s standards
EvE is a cerebral game… it takes a lot more effort in time and energy to be successful.
Most other games are developed for the average IQ player who has limited time as well as limited attention span. Mobile games are even worse as they exacerbate the “quick fix” of jumping into a game for a few minutes and then leaving… you can’t really do that in EvE (aside from suicide runs)
I started in 2005, then I took a few years off… jumped back in again and back off due to real life (that’s what happens when you grow up). I have returned after a 10 year break and am enjoying the changes. It’s good to see a server with 30,000+ when all those years people kept clamoring that “EvE is dying!”
Trying to compare EvE which is a more mature game for an older and hopefully wiser player base vs. other subscription MMOs who have pre-teens dancing around in costumes pretending to take fake digital selfies (looking at you Todd) is silly. Apples vs. rotten oranges.
Go look at all the other MMOs that have come and gone since 2003 (especially the subscription based ones) and you’ll see that EvE continues to attract players who have decided that they are done playing children’s games…
o7
In my own opinion and probably way off, but, EvE is not a loot pinata like those other extraction games. Here, you gotta hunt for your meal & sometimes you are the hunted. EvE has a rep of being a cold & merciless game with an enormous learning curve. This puts off the “instant gratification” crowd.
TL;DR - EvE is for grown ups.
EVE Online. 
