Is EVE Online still worth playing in 2026?

Is EVE Online Still Worth Playing in 2026? Short answer? Yes. Absolutely!

But I'm not sure I would recommend EVE Online to everyone.

That probably sounds like a strange way to start an article arguing that a 23-year-old MMO is still worth playing in 2026, but after coming back to New Eden myself, I think it might be the most important thing to understand about EVE. 

EVE Online is difficult. It can be frustrating. 

It wastes your time. It lets other players interfere with whatever carefully constructed plans you had for the evening, and you can spend hours preparing something only to lose it in seconds because you made one bad decision. And somehow, those are also some of the reasons I've fallen in love with it again.

The Safe Spot episode 15: The Mike Azariah interview

Mike Azariah has spent nearly two decades showing that trust often matters more than ISK in New Eden. When Rixx and I sat down with him this past weekend, he walked us through the early blogging days (him and I go way back, to my days as the Blog Father), Operation Magic School Bus, his CSM campaigns, and what it actually means to lead from the edges.

Learning how to haul safely in EVE Online with a blockade runner

One red flashy docked with his wing mate in the same station where I was holding cargo. Both of them after following me in. And I had no idea what they'd do next.

This was the result of instinct kicking in. It had brought me straight to the station. The obvious place.