Independent game developer CCP Games has made Apocrypha, the 10th free expansion of Eve Online, available to the general public; registered users can upgrade for free. This joyous occasion was twofold gratifying for EVE online fans as the retail box of this very popular space role-playing massively multiplayer online (MMO) game is once again being sold in stores – real ones, made of brick and mortar. Getting EVE Online from a retail store will set you back $35, but you will get box exclusives and 60 days of playable time.

Senior Producer for EVE Online, Torfi Frans Olafsson comments: “Incredible rewards and certain death await explorers brave enough to fly into the unstable wormholes that have opened across EVE Online’s universe. While EVE is certainly darker and more dangerous, it has also become accessible with our revamped new player experience, improved UI and renovated graphics and effects. Beginning your chosen path in EVE has never been easier.”

If you don’t know what Eve Online is all about, here is a brief description: the action is set in outer space where you are the captain of your very own space ship. There are several career paths that you can pursue according to your wishes and desires; as time goes by you earn skills and further increase your stats while competing with other players from all over the world. The Apocrypha expansion brings about several improvements and new features: unstable wormholes, Strategic Cruisers, a new NPC race called The Sleepers, the first Epic Mission Arc, visual and audio improvements, new skill queue, Premium Graphics client for Mac users, and much more. Feel free to try it out free for the first 14 days here.

Are you a Linux user? If that is the case, you will have to satisfy your EVE Online gaming wishes some other way, because CCP games has pulled support for the Linux version of the game. Just to cheer you up, you should know that the Linux Foundation has taken the Linu.com domain under its wing and will revive the community around it.