Pax Dei is a social sandbox MMO that will attempt to pull off EVE Online in medieval Europe

I can think of a few questions that might entice you into upcoming social sandbox MMO Pax Dei. What if EVE Online took place in medieval europe, except all the fairies the peasants believed in were real? What if you and your pals could make your own village from scratch, spreading then politicking among other settlements and nations? In other words: what if you could play Wurm, but prettier?

It's coming from some veteran EVE devs, who place an emphasis on community, inclusivity and player agency. I suspect I will never play it, but will very much enjoy reading about those who do.

Pax Dei was revealed back in March, though PC Gamer's big castle-based interview above arrived as part of yesterday's PC Gaming show. The big sell is that every facet of the world emerges from and intermingles with player behaviour, right down to the ore in every sword. As the Steam page boasts, every item will be player-crafted, and there won't be an NPC in sight. The plan is to let players contribute to their communities however they like, from building to fighting to crafting to straight up logisticking.

There won't be Rust-style anarchy, seen as settlements built in the starting zone can't be attacked by players, but developers Mainframe Industries do seem interested in the kind of community-driven antics that make EVE so fun to read about. As the Steam page says, "you’ll battle evil beings, uncover mysteries of an ancient and wondrous past, and square off against rival Clans as you struggle for power, position, and resources."

The game's been in development for three years, but at this stage there's no telling whether all those systems will build into EVE level intricacies. It does have CCP co-founder and former global creative director Reynir Hardarson on board as game director, so that's promising.

Wurm strikes me as a natural comparison seen as it's also a medieval social sandbox mmo, with the three key differences being that Wurm is a) old and largely uninhabited, b) blobfish level ugly and c) an absolute ballache to play. Please do read Brendy's (RPS in peace) ridealong with a fallen king and his borrowed old fat horse.

There's no word on when Pax Dei will be out. If you missed any of the many, many announcements from the PC Gaming Show, here's our handy roundup of everything worth your attention.