Very Odd: CCP Refuses To Confirm EVE Valkyrie On PC

I recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with CCP's Oculus-Rift-powered wonder EVE Valkyrie, and - shock of all shocks - it was really wonderful. More on that soon. First, though, some minor yet potentially meaningful strangeness. After clambering out of my head-mounted cockpit (that sounds incredibly dirty), I quizzed CCP all about its plans for EVE, Dust, Valkyrie, and how they'll intertwine. I'll have the full interview up asap, but one bit stood out: chief marketing officer David Reid was quite adamant that EVE Valkyrie won't necessarily be launching on PC or Oculus Rift. I'm not really sure what to make of it, to be honest, but here's what he said.

"Hold on a second, we haven't confirmed that Valkyrie's on PC," he interjected when I idly noted that Dust 514 is the only non-PC extension of the EVE universe. "It's capable of playing on PC right now, but we haven't confirmed what we're going to launch it on."

"It technically works on PC, and it's working fine, but there are other platforms it could run on. There's nothing that technically prevents it from running on a console, for example."

It was a very unexpected response, to say the least. PC is, however, still part of the plan... somehow. Unfortunately, Reid was exceedingly vague beyond that point, almost insistently so.

"Well, I mean, PC is definitely in the cards. Is it definitely something that's there in 2014 on commercial launch day? I couldn't answer that for you yet. We certainly could do it, but it's still a question of whether we will."

I was, however, able to confirm that it's definitely not an Ouya exclusive, for what it's worth.

"That is incredibly unlikely," Reid chuckled. "I will say that with confidence."

But EVE Valkyrie is a virtual reality game. Heck, at this point it's basically Oculus Rift's poster child. And yet, that's another place where Reid shot down what most people had been taking for granted.

"No, we're not necessarily [basing our launch on when Oculus comes out]," he clarified. "While we can't get into details here, there are other platforms that are available. It is technically possible to run this game without a Rift. There's a whole bunch of different things out on the market right now."

I floated a few possibilities, but he wouldn't confirm or deny them. He did, however, note that CCP hasn't spoken with former Valve employees Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson about AR/VR mega-vision eyeborg glasses CastAR, but "there's no reason not to" sit down for a discussion at this point.

So then, what do we know for sure at this point? EVE Valkyrie is coming out in 2014. On, um, something. It will involve virtual reality, but beyond that it's apparently anyone's guess. I can't really see any reason why Valkyrie's mighty first ride wouldn't include PC, but crazier behind-the-scenes dealings have happened. Reading between the lines, it certainly sounds like someone could've locked it down for a timed exclusive. If that's the case, address all my future correspondences to the Angry Dome.