Beta Testing For EVE Online's Play Science App Announced

Apart from Project Awakening, CCP hasn't publicized any development efforts apart from EVE Online. But that doesn't mean new features and applications are not in development. Players have playtested the new EVE: Vanguard FPS module for a few months now. Now a previously announced application, the Play Science app, is about to undergo public beta testing.

In a news article today the Icelandic game maker announced how players can sign-up to participate in the beta test. Play Science is a mobile app that allows EVE players to play Project Discovery, a citizen-science mini-game inside EVE Online. The app, first mentioned at Fanfest 2023, I think is planned to launch at the same time as the Spring expansion and the fourth iteration of Project Discovery.

The Project Discovery presentation at Fanfest 2023

For those unfamiliar with EVE, the article provided a brief description.

Developed in collaboration with Swiss start-up Massively Multiplayer Online Science (MMOS), Project Discovery is a unique mini-game that is quick, easy, and rewarding to play, with the substantial benefit of advancing real science. Capsuleers have already contributed in a significant way to the research into exoplanets and COVID-19, and the scope of Project Discovery will soon expand to include critical immune system diseases, including cancer. This initiative has been recognized globally, winning the Webby People’s Voice Award for contributing to science and society​​. This collaboration between EVE players and the scientific community exemplifies the potential of virtual worlds to contribute to our understanding of the real one​​. 

The article concentrated on EVE, but during the talk at Fanfest the application will also connect to other games, such as Borderlands Science. So those participating in the beta test may receive a wider exposure to all of the games MMOS has teamed up with, not just EVE.

Or perhaps not. But with the app now about to undergo public beta testing and a new EVE expansion just a couple of months away, I can imagine people doing citizen science just about anywhere.