Novaquark, the game developer behind the sci-fi MMO ‘Dual Universe’, have recently hired Högni Gylfason as their Chief Technology Officer. Gylfason was previously a Technical Director at CCP, where he lead the DevOps team and implemented games-as-a-service cloud solutions for EVE Online, helping to turn it into one of the most revered games in its genre.

Gylfason’s expertise lends itself perfectly to Dual Universe, where he will help optimize workflows and support the development of a highly scalable platform with potentially millions of players in the same game world.

This will ensure that every player has a great experience in spite of the sheer volume of traffic — truly a unique feat in the scope of online gaming. “Given the popularity of other games that serve as an outlet for players’ creativity, Dual Universe can rival even the largest ones while providing a single world for everyone worldwide to play together; a world that is also entirely editable thanks to Novaquark’s integrated voxel technology.”

When asked about the similarities between EVE Online and Dual Universe, Gylfason brought up the single-shard universe, a concept where everyone plays in the same world at the same time, and the technical implications of implementing it. “Where the two differ however,” he continued, “is how Dual Universe deals with the issues surrounding supporting a massive number of players in the same location.”

Hiring the best talent has always been imperative to Novaquark, and both the team as well as Gylfason are excited to start working together. When asked to comment, Novaquark’s CEO Jean-Christophe Baillie said, “We’re very excited to have Högni working with us on the game. The company has always focused on hiring extremely skilled and creative people and I’m certain that with Högni joining the team, we can truly realize Dual Universe’s goal of pushing the limits of massively-online, emergent experiences to new heights.”

Gylfason’s arrival comes at a pivotal time, as the company heads into the Alpha 3 release for Dual Universe coming this January, with the Beta 1 planned to release in Summer 2020.

About Dual Universe



UNIVERSE (available in test version) : The first fully editable universe made for players by players. The only limit is your imagination! Gather your friends and build on a truly epic scale, from ships, cities and space stations, to Lua scripted puzzles and interactive constructs.

: The first fully editable universe made for players by players. The only limit is your imagination! Gather your friends and build on a truly epic scale, from ships, cities and space stations, to Lua scripted puzzles and interactive constructs. MASSIVE (available in test version) : Dual Universe is the first game where potentially millions of players can interact together simultaneously, inside the same giant universe. We call it the Continuous Single Shard Cluster (CSSC) technology. This proprietary technology means no multi-server player separation, instances or loading times, just one enormous, persistent universe.

: Dual Universe is the first game where potentially millions of players can interact together simultaneously, inside the same giant universe. We call it the Continuous Single Shard Cluster (CSSC) technology. This proprietary technology means no multi-server player separation, instances or loading times, just one enormous, persistent universe. EXPLORATION (partially available in test version) : Explore & Discover new worlds with your friends, find rare resources and build the greatest place in the universe. Will you be a nomad treasure hunter, or a calculating profiteer?

: Explore & Discover new worlds with your friends, find rare resources and build the greatest place in the universe. Will you be a nomad treasure hunter, or a calculating profiteer? ECONOMY (partially available in test version) : Dual Universe will have the most realistic economy system ever made in a game. From weapons and tools, to spaceships and giant space stations, build and trade everything to everyone – at your price – on your own market.

: Dual Universe will have the most realistic economy system ever made in a game. From weapons and tools, to spaceships and giant space stations, build and trade everything to everyone – at your price – on your own market. WARFARE (work in progress) : Fight for supremacy, resource control or geostrategic advantage, as you join with fellow players and create your own defense systems, build warships, cities and space stations. Will you defend yourself or lay waste to your enemies?

: Fight for supremacy, resource control or geostrategic advantage, as you join with fellow players and create your own defense systems, build warships, cities and space stations. Will you defend yourself or lay waste to your enemies? POLITICS (work in progress): Be a lone wolf or choose an organization or build your own, hire new players, fight other alliances, cut deals with them or rule your own part of the Universe with this completely open political landscape, full of emergent gameplay opportunities.

About Novaquark



Novaquark’s goal is to create the first virtual online civilization, enabling potentially millions of players to shape and share a metaverse of their own, together, at a scale never seen before. A world with meaning, where everything you do matters and has a permanent impact. Novaquark, composed of veterans from Sony, Apple, Epic Games and Bioware, is on a mission to bring a new generation of MMO through science, expertise and technological innovation.