by EVE Online Team11:00am on Friday 20th February 2026
Conversational capsuleers,
EVE Fanfest is the ultimate gathering of EVE players; a place where capsuleers from across the cluster come together to celebrate the universe they’ve helped build. And no celebration would be complete without a word from the pilots who shape New Eden.
Each year, we shine the spotlight on community members who live and breathe EVE, letting them take to the stage to share their expertise, experiences, and passion. Let’s meet the player presenters for EVE Fanfest 2026:
Warlock Industries demonstrates how cinematic battle footage is recorded during live combat, transformed into accessible visual stories, and archived as EVE history. Practical techniques, storytelling choices, and creative workflows are highlighted to inspire more pilots to document the scale and beauty of New Eden’s wars.
Veteran trader and CSM member, The Oz, explores the real drivers behind EVE’s markets, including wars, patches, political shifts, and player behavior. Using concrete examples, the session offers practical insights into how and why prices change, and what players can learn from those movements.
Grunt Kado reflects on his evolution from small-gang PvPer to YouTube creator, covering mindset changes, content challenges, and modern PvP approaches. Through gameplay examples and theorycrafting, the session offers insight into creating engaging PvP content that resonates with veterans and newer players alike.
Squizz Caphinator traces the full lifecycle of a killmail, from ESI ingestion to statistics, rankings, and public APIs. The talk reveals the scale, complexity and infrastructure behind zKillboard, offering insight into how EVE’s combat data is processed, stored, and shared with the community.
Emergency physician and veteran EVE presenter Argus Sorn reflects on resilience, leadership, and burnout, drawing lessons from both real-world medicine and in-game organizations. The talk connects personal experience, post-pandemic perspective, and long-term EVE leadership into a candid exploration of growth and recovery.
A psychiatrist, addiction subspecialist, and long-time EVE player explores the science behind risk versus reward in New Eden. From “the shakes” in high-stakes PvP to adrenaline-seeking behavior and shifting risk thresholds, the session connects neuroscience, novelty, and player decision-making across combat, fleet dynamics, and the wider EVE meta.
Alliance Tournament training lead and long-time newbro mentor shares hard-earned lessons from building competitive fleets from the ground up. Covering fleet composition theory, fitting fundamentals, and engagement control, the session blends practical doctrine insight with candid reflections on running an open training team in one of EVE’s most demanding competitive arenas.
The ESI team will be joined by leading EVE Online third-party app creators for a panel discussion focused on the tools that power New Eden beyond the client. Together, they will explore development challenges, ESI integration, and how player-driven applications continue to shape the EVE ecosystem.
The EVE Workbench team discusses how a third-party app evolves from concept to production. Covering development challenges, ESI integration, and long-term maintenance, the session offers practical insight into building sustainable tools, while inspiring others to create applications that serve the EVE community.
Nohus Bluxome explores EVE’s Photon UI by sharing lessons learned while recreating it for the RIFT tool. The session highlights hidden design details, usability patterns, and unexpected challenges, giving attendees a deeper understanding of EVE’s interface and the craftsmanship behind it.
Fern Kitsuen presents EVE Guru, a leading industry and trading planning tool. Covering its origins, features, and community impact, the session explores why advanced third-party tools matter in EVE and offers a glimpse into future developments shaping industrial gameplay.
For the first time at Fanfest, we’ll be offering a miniature painting seminar led by Watson Crick, introducing attendees to practical painting techniques adapted for EVE starships. The session covers the entire painting process, including tools, paints, color theory, and finishing methods. A collection of finished EVE miniatures will be showcased as well.
There is clearly a lot to look forward to, as Fanfest draws ever closer. Keep in mind that tickets are almost sold out, so get yours now!
Even if you can’t join in person, many of these exciting presentations will be featured on the Fanfest live stream, and all will be recorded and released on the EVE Online YouTube channel, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Lastly, a huge thank you goes out to everyone who submitted an application to present this year! There are always way too many great topics and speakers to choose from, and hopefully you’ll apply again next time. See you in May!