CCP: Dust 514 is driving PS3 sales

CCP's vice president of business development has suggested that EVE Online spin-off Dust 514 is boosting sales of the PlayStation 3 console.

"We already see that Dust 514, during open beta, had been driving hardware sales for Sony. We actually track that together," Thor Gunnarsson told Destructoid.

"We so know that our fan base, Dust-curious players, are buying the PlayStation 3 to get into our game."

Dust 514 entered open beta, exclusively on PlayStation 3, on January 22 and was officially released on May 14. The game is free-to-play and scored 61 on Metacritic.

"What we hear, anecdotally, is that PlayStation 3 sales are increasing. Sony have done a phenomenal job of managing console transitions, like they did with the PlayStation 2's cost and size reductions. We can make the logical assumption that something similar will happen as the PlayStation 4 comes to market."

GamesIndustry International recently spoke to David Reid, CCP's chief marketing officer about both EVE and Dust 514.

"The thing about Dust is not the shiniest guns or the perfect shooting mechanics; it's about this meta-game, and the persistence, and the customisation, and we do think that we're doing that better than anybody else. It won't be for everyone. It won't be the EVE learning curve, but it certainly won't be the Call of Duty learning curve, either. It won't be everyone that figures this out right away, but it doesn't have to be either."