Gothenburg, Sweden - MindArk, developers of the long-running real-cash economy MMO Entropia Universe, has announced several key updates designed to enhance player experience and improve performance across the universe. These initiatives reflect MindArk’s ongoing commitment to technical innovation, community collaboration, and immersive gameplay.
In recent years, the Entropia Universe team has continued to push the boundaries of visual fidelity and world-building with stunning new environments, such as Port Cabrakan in the Setesh update and the Spina Queen’s Lair instance. However, such rich and complex worlds have also presented challenges in maintaining optimal performance.
David, from MindArk’s Engine Team, shared insights on the upcoming optimization:
“When we moved to PBR lighting, we packed key parameters - occlusion, roughness, and metallic - into texture channels. Previously, older GPU compression methods caused large artifacts that ruined quality, so many textures had to remain uncompressed.
We’ve now implemented support for the modern BC7 compression format, which allows us to maintain high-quality textures even when the data channels are unrelated. This means we can store textures at a much smaller size without compromising visual quality.”
The new compression system will significantly reduce load times, VRAM usage, and overall game size. In testing, some of the most performance-heavy areas have seen up to a 60% increase in frame rates. These changes are expected to go live soon, improving both stability and performance across the universe.
MindArk is also developing a new in-game voting system to ensure that all players have a voice in the future of Entropia Universe.
While existing polls on forums offer valuable insight, they often capture only a small segment of the community - sometimes including inactive players. The new in-game system will make community engagement more representative and accessible.
Votes will be weighted to reflect factors such as total playtime, ensuring that active players have a proportionate influence. For certain topics, additional weighting will apply - for example, giving estate owners greater say on estate-related issues.
This initiative underscores MindArk’s commitment to listening to and collaborating with the player base, ensuring that key decisions and updates are shaped together with the community.
As part of the broader overhaul of the new player experience, MindArk’s AI Team has been working on a next-generation character creation system that blends creativity with accessibility.
“We’re updating the character creation process to make it more engaging and flexible. New players will be able to describe their desired character using text, voice, or images. AI-powered tools will then generate a base appearance that fits those descriptions, which players can further refine using familiar controls.
Players will also be able to make quick adjustments through intuitive ‘bubbles’ representing features like hairstyle, body type, or facial structure - modified instantly via clicks or natural language commands.
The goal is to modernize and simplify the experience, allowing players to reach their desired look faster while maintaining full manual control for detailed customization.”
This update brings the character creation experience into the future, enabling players to bring their vision to life more intuitively and creatively from the moment they enter Entropia Universe.
Joe Martin Director of Marketing, MindArk PE AB (publ) [email protected] Tel: +46 31 607 260 MindArk PE AB (publ) Org. nr. 556640-4769 Masthamnsgatan 5 413 29 Gothenburg www.mindark.com
MindArk PE AB (publ) (“the Company” or “MindArk”) develops and operates Entropia Universe, the world's first MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game) with a “Real-Cash-Economy”, and Entropia Platform. Entropia Universe is a virtual universe consisting of a number of planets with different themes and activities. The software is provided globally and free of charge with the possibility to spend money in the virtual universe for anyone with access to PC and the internet. Entropia Universe consists of a digital economy where resources, materials, land, and buildings are represented as digital assets with an underlying base value. Entropia Platform is the technology platform that powers Entropia Universe. The platform is shared with partners who develop their own unique game content for their planets in Entropia Universe.
