CCP Games announced that EVE Frontier enters Cycle 5 of Founder Access, beginning Wednesday, March 11. Titled Shroud of Fear, Cycle 5 marks another step toward CCP Games’ long-term vision for EVE Frontier as a hardcore space survival experience. A new trailer, released today, showcases how EVE Frontier is evolving.

Shroud of Fear introduces Shell industry: allowing players to manufacture the clone bodies they inhabit, taking direct control over their production, storage, and enhancement. With the introduction of the Nursery manufacturing facility and the Nest storage facility, players can create new Shells and manage their equipped skills through Crowns – specialized memory constructs – to shape their capabilities and progression. If a Shell is destroyed, the skills and memory imprinted on that body are lost with it, demanding preparation and adaptability to survive the Frontier’s unforgiving nature.

The galaxy also evolves. Orbital Zones now replace dungeons, introducing distinct, persistent ecosystems across solar systems and distributing resources, NPCs and loot naturalistically. Feral AI now patrol and move dynamically between points of interest, reacting to their surroundings, analyzing and defending key locations. Two new types of rifts and crude matter are available across almost every star system, allowing players earlier and more frequent access to crude industry.

Base building continues to deepen. Construction Sites at owned Network Nodes allow players to collaboratively deliver materials before structures come online. At L-Points, multiple players can now establish a base, increasing opportunities for cooperation and conflict. Defensive infrastructure has also been overhauled with the introduction of three specialized turrets: the Autocannon Turret, built to shred smaller ships; the Plasma Turret, designed to counter mid-sized threats; and the heavy Railgun Turret, engineered to engage larger combat vessels.

Traversal and combat have been refined, redefining how ships travel, fight and manage risk. Combat has been rebalanced to clearly distinguish between light and heavy ships. Lighter hulls now accelerate faster and carve tighter flight paths, with slot layouts that emphasize active defenses. Heavier ships trade angular agility for greater mass, higher top speeds, and passive durability. A powerful new Exclave frigate can also be manufactured, offering a focused, high-mobility option for pilots who favor precision. Traversal systems have also been updated. Fuel now carries new properties that impact active consumption and interstellar travel, while passive scanning allows players to detect signatures in space and monitor their surrounding environment before committing movement or engagement.

With Shroud of Fear, EVE Frontier migrates from Ethereum to the Sui blockchain. Launching the same day, the 2026 Frontier Hackathon features an $80,000 prize pool, inviting builders to develop mods that extend the Frontier both inside and outside the game world.