NetEase is creating an AR adaptation of the epic EVE Online

During its annual developers conference in San Jose, California this week, Apple showed a video demonstration of a mobile AR game on the iPad, where two players staged an epic virtual spaceship battle at home.

Turns out, that was the prototype of NetEase’s EVE: Project Galaxy -- a new game adapted from the popular space sandbox EVE Online developed by Iceland’s CCP Games.

EVE Online, which has been played by more than half a million people worldwide, is an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) where players try to conquer the universe with fleets of spaceships.

EVE Online may not be as well-known as World of Warcraft, but loyal fans are crazy about it. One big reason is how massive these galaxy-shaping battles can get: Each brawl can involve thousands of players participating from all parts of the world.

The most famous of them all -- the Bloodbath of B-R5RB in 2014 -- reportedly lasted for 21 hours, involved more than 7,500 players, and inflicted around US$300,000 worth of damage to their wallets.