The independent game development firm CCP announced today that the latest expansion of it’s MMORPG EVE Online, titled EVE Online: Trinity, is going to be available as a free download for all EVE Online players. The new expansion will be equipped with a new graphics engine that will raise the bar on visual quality in online games and also comes with news that EVE Online has reached a grand total of 200,00 subscribers. The new graphics engine, which has been specially built for Shader Model 3.0 and higher, was built with the purpose of providing players with cinematic scenes that continued during normal gameplay. All ships, stations, and stargates in the game have been remodeled to highlight the lightning and varied materials that have been developed to add a further sense of realism to the game.

Two versions of EVE Online: Trinity will be released but both will be free to all players and retain the same gameplay map. The first, titled the Classic version, is scheduled for release on December 4th. The other, which is titled the Premium version and which contains improved graphics, will be uploaded for use with Microsoft Windows the day after the release of the Classic version and will be modified for use with Macintosh and Linux in the first quarters of 2008. Hilmar Veigar Petursson, the Chief Executive Officer of CCP, stated that “"We’re pleased that advances in graphics technology allow us to present the world of EVE as we had always envisioned it” and that the company was looking “forward to sharing the Trinity edition with the fast-growing, dedicated community that shares our passion to remove the barriers that constrain virtual worlds from meeting their full potential."

For a complete list of the new additions that will be made available for EVE Online: Trinity please visi the official site at http://www.eve-online.com/trinity/. To view the game trailer for the new expansion please visit this site: http://myeve.eve-online.com/download/videos/.