EVE Online: Fractured Skies is live today, November 10, 2026, and it brings two big things to New Eden at once: a new winter expansion that pushes the game’s story into open war, and the opening of EVE Vanguard’s Live Alpha, a 24/7 first-person shooter set in the same universe. Fenris Creations, the studio behind EVE, is calling this a new chapter for a game that has been running for more than two decades, and for players who have been waiting for a reason to return, this is the biggest one in a long time.
EVE Online: Fractured Skies is the second of three chapters in the Sins of the Ancients story arc, and it opens with the Amarr Empire invading Minmatar space. That is not a small skirmish on the edge of the map, it is a war at the heart of EVE’s history, between two of its oldest and most powerful factions, and it is meant to give every player in New Eden something to fight over, whether they fly with the Amarr, stand with the Minmatar, or try to profit from the chaos in between.
EVE Online: Fractured Skies brings war to New Eden
The story of EVE Online: Fractured Skies is built around the Amarr Empire’s aggression and the Minmatar Republic’s response, and the expansion is designed to make that war felt across the game. New Eden has always been a place where player actions shape the story, and a faction war on this scale should ripple through its markets, its politics and its battlefields. For veterans, that is familiar ground, but the scale of this chapter, and its place as the middle part of a three-part arc, suggests that Fenris is building towards something bigger still.
Winter expansions have traditionally been a moment for EVE to reset and refocus, and Fractured Skies follows that pattern. It arrives as a free expansion for existing EVE Online players, and it is accompanied by a two-week free-to-play event, The Fall of the Empire, running from November 10 to 24, which lets new players try the game without a subscription. That is a deliberate invitation: if the story of a war between empires sounds like your kind of game, you can fly into it for free for the next two weeks.
The Fall of the Empire event is free to play until November 24
The Fall of the Empire is the hook for new and returning players in EVE Online: Fractured Skies. From today until November 24, players can take part in the event without paying, giving them a chance to see New Eden at a moment of high drama, to try out the game’s ships and systems, and to decide whether they want to stay. For a game as famously deep and intimidating as EVE, a free window tied to a major story event is the best kind of trial, and Fenris has clearly timed it to catch players who might otherwise never have tried.
That free event also matters for the game’s community. EVE lives or dies on its players, on the corporations and alliances that run its wars and its economy, and a surge of new capsuleers, even a temporary one, can change the balance of power in unexpected ways. The Fall of the Empire is not just a marketing offer, it is a story event that new players can actually take part in, and that should make it feel like more than a free weekend.
EVE Vanguard Live Alpha is open 24/7 on PC
Alongside the expansion, Fenris has opened EVE Vanguard’s Live Alpha, and this is the other half of today’s announcement. EVE Vanguard is a first-person shooter set in the EVE universe, where players deploy to planets and fight ground battles that connect to the space war above them. The Live Alpha is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rather than running in short, limited playtests, and that change alone is a big step for the game.
The alpha costs $15, and it is available on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Players who buy in get access to the always-on alpha, and Fenris has said that the game is aiming for a Steam Early Access launch in the third quarter of 2027. That gives the alpha a clear runway: more than half a year of continuous play, feedback and iteration, with players able to drop in whenever they like, rather than waiting for the next test window.
For EVE players, Vanguard is the ground war they have been promised for years. EVE has always been a game about spaceships, but its universe is full of planets, and Vanguard is the attempt to let players fight on them, with the outcome of ground battles feeding back into the wider war in space. It is an ambitious idea, and the move to a 24/7 alpha suggests that Fenris is confident enough in the current build to let players play it whenever they want.
What EVE Vanguard means for EVE Online
EVE Online: Fractured Skies and EVE Vanguard are two sides of the same idea. One is a space game about a war between empires, the other is a ground game about the soldiers fighting that war on the planets below, and together they are meant to make New Eden feel like a single, connected universe rather than two separate games. That connection is the long-term promise, and today’s launch is the first time both parts have been available at the same time, with one live and the other open around the clock.
It is also a sign of how Fenris sees the future of EVE. The studio has kept EVE Online running for 23 years, and it is now building a second game in the same universe, with the same players, the same factions and the same wars. If Vanguard works, it could bring a whole new audience into New Eden, players who prefer a shooter to a spaceship, and who might then try the MMO as well. That is the bet, and the $15 alpha is the way to test it.
How to play EVE Online: Fractured Skies and EVE Vanguard
EVE Online: Fractured Skies is available now for PC, and the Fall of the Empire free-to-play event runs until November 24. EVE Vanguard’s Live Alpha is also available now on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store for $15, and it requires an EVE Online account. Both games are PC releases, and neither is coming to consoles, so this is a story for PC players, and for anyone who has ever been curious about the most famous MMO in gaming.
For space game fans, it is a busy time. Marathon Symbiosis Is Coming December 8 — Free PvE Mode, 3v3 Deathmatch and a Week You Can Play for Free is also live this week, and the two games offer very different takes on science-fiction shooting, one on the ground in New Eden, the other in Marathon’s own universe. For management and strategy fans, Cities: Skylines II Park Adventures Is Coming December 2 — Zoos, Theme Parks and a Free Update Today! is the other big PC story of the day, and Football Manager 27 Is OUT NOW — Every Platform, Game Pass Day One and a Record-Breaking Free Play leads a strong week for PC launches overall.
Source: Fenris Creations, via Games Press.
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