We are always looking for new ways to help people do more and create new experiences, so the Excel team was excited to collaborate with CCP Games as they developed a powerful new Excel add-in that will supercharge the EVE Online game experience by making data analytics accessible to all players, no programming knowledge required. This valuable tool enables players of all skill levels to effortlessly access and analyze data to optimize gameplay as they strive for galactic domination.
"The new Excel add-in for EVE Online makes it much easier for players to create their own character tracking, corporation management, and/or industry tool. It allows more players to effectively dive into these parts of the game, that set EVE Online apart from other MMOs."
-Oz EVE, EVE Online Partner and prolific EVE Online trader
EVE Online is a massively multiplayer sci-fi game in which hundreds of thousands of players carve out interstellar empires through fleet battles and economic warfare. Set tens of thousands of years in the future, EVE is an immersive, community-driven experience featuring a vast player-run economy and offers professions ranging from commodities trader to mercenary, industrial entrepreneur to pirate, mining engineer to fleet commander and much more. From brokering business deals to waging war, EVE’s players all have access to a diverse array of tools and interfaces to forge their own destiny in New Eden. EVE Online is renowned for its scale, complexity, and its gigantic, world record-breaking in-game battles where thousands of players come head-to-head in a single star system.
Microsoft 365’s add-in framework allows developers to create custom solutions for Microsoft 365 applications using Javascript. In Excel, developers can leverage the to create their own custom data types containing images, entities, arrays, and formatted number values – backed by their own custom data sources. Custom functions are fully supported for both inputs and outputs of data types for functions.
EVE Online is the first video game to have developed an Excel add-in using this type of data integration.
“Collaborating with Microsoft to provide EVE players with direct access to Excel’s spreadsheet software tools has been both a very enjoyable experience and a very natural fit, which should come as no surprise to the data enthusiasts at our two companies and within our respective communities,” said Bergur Finnbogason, EVE Online’s Creative Director. “Our players continue to encourage us to explore more ways to make EVE approachable. Advanced EVE players are known to use spreadsheets as a data management tool, so the Excel add-in is a crucial step in achieving that goal. No matter your role, skill level or identity in New Eden, the power of this add-in is at your fingertips.”
“CCP Games has extensive experience in the MMO space, so it’s only natural that we collaborate with them to launch the first-ever native Microsoft Excel add-in for a video game,” said Catherine Pidgeon, Microsoft Head of Product, Excel. “With the add-in, the EVE Online player base can seamlessly export and manage data without third-party tools. Through this collaboration, we’re excited to see how players of EVE Online of all skill levels can use Excel to streamline data management and take their in-game experience to new heights.”
Import your data to unlock the full potential of Excel's robust analysis and visualization tools. Create custom reports, graphs, and charts to gain deep insights into your in-game activities, track your progress, and strategize your next steps. All the information you need for advancement and eventual domination will now be at your fingertips with the new Excel add-in.
The Excel plugin has definitely lowered the barrier for interacting with the EVE Online API; the add-in enables easy interaction with the various parts of character data, and I've been able to make some asset and trading worksheets which have been valuable!"
-Slazanger, third party developer
Get started by downloading the Excel add-in.
In an Excel workbook, click on the EVE Online add-in now appearing in the top right. This will open a pane on the right where you select “add character”. Once authorized, begin pulling in-game data and using the available functions to inform your gameplay.
Learn More
To learn more about the data types JavaScript API in Excel, check out these resources:
- Explore Office JavaScript API using Script Lab
- Excel JavaScript API overview - Office Add-ins
- Overview of data types in Excel add-ins
Do you have an idea to make Excel better? We'd love to hear about it. Go to the Excel forum in Microsoft Feedback to submit your idea or vote for other ideas. You can also click the Feedback button in Excel and choose "I have a suggestion".