Could Ex-EVE Online Developers' New Title "Pax Dei" Hit the Ground Running?

Mainframe Industries, comprised of industry veterans from studios like Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Remedy, have announced “Pax Dei”. The game is a social, sandbox MMO in the same vein as games like the massively popular MMO, Eve Online. Pax Dei is a player-driven experience that lets the world be shaped by the players.

The game has been in the works at Mainframe for over two years now and has been described as a “living fantasy world inspired by the traditions & legends of the medieval era”.

“Here, myths are real, ghosts exist, and magic is unquestioned. In your home valley, life is relatively safe and peaceful,” reads the blog post by Mainframe. “As you venture out into the wider world, however, things begin to change. The further you travel from home, the stranger things get. Anything becomes possible.”

Players can now wishlist Pax Dei on Steam. Mainframe is yet to confirm a release window for the game. It is likely that the game will have an Early Access/Beta period before the full, global launch.

Can Pax Dei Hit the Ground Running and Buck Eve Online Off the Social Sandbox MMO Throne?

For years now, EVE Online has sat atop the social sandbox MMO genre as one of the finest online, MMO experiences around. Pax Dei comes from developers that have worked closely on projects like EVE Online, so there is a good chance that the games could share some core commonalities.

However, Mainframe will likely try to deliver a distinct-enough experience to players and not flounder in the shadow of the MMO giant. From the looks of it, it appears Pax Dei will have some sort of survival mechanics at play, which might just be a product of the resurgence of the genre in recent times.

Games like The Forest, Rust, and Tribes of Midgard have done an incredible job reigniting interest in the genre, helped in large part by the prominence of streaming platforms like Twitch. The audience is able to play along with their favourite content creators, thus resulting in the games attracting droves of new players every day.

Pax Dei probably will look to capture the attention of both the survival genre fans as well as fans of expansive, open-ended MMOs such as Eve Online. The game will solely be available on PC and fans can wishlist the game right now.