Wikipedia

CCP Games

CCP ehf.,doing business asCCP Games(short forCrowd Control Productions), is anIcelandicvideo game developerbased inReykjavík.Novator PartnersandGeneral Catalysthad previously collectively owned a majority stake in the company, and in September 2018, CCP was acquired by South Korean video game publisherPearl Abyssfor US$425 million.[1]CCP Games is best known for developingEve Online,which was released in 2003 and has since been maintained.

CCP ehf.
CCP Games
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedJune 1997;27 years ago(1997-06)
Founders
Headquarters
Reykjavík
,
Iceland
Number of locations
3 (2023)
Key people
  • Birgir Már Ragnarsson
  • (chairman)
  • Hilmar Veigar Pétursson
  • (CEO)
Products
IncreaseUS$63.6 million (2022)
Total equityIncreaseUS$ 63.9 million (2022)
Number of employees
Decrease173 (2022)
ParentPearl Abyss(2018–present)
Websiteccpgames.com

History

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CCP Games was founded in June 1997 by Reynir Harðarson,Þórólfur Beck Kristjónssonand Ívar Kristjánsson for the purpose of makingMMORPGs.[2][3]Harðarson was working at a metaverse company calledOZ Interactivewho had developed an engine for distributed 3d simulations over the internet, but not for gaming. Wanting to use the technology to build MMOs, Harðarson left OZ, to found CCP with Beck and Kristjánsson, bringing over key people, including CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson and creative director Torfi Frans Ólafsson.[4]

The name "CCP" is short for "Crowd Control Productions".[5]To finance the initial development ofEve Online,CCP Games developed and published a board game, calledHættuspil( "Danger Game").[2]The game sold more than 10,000 copies to Iceland's 80,000 households.[6]

While seeking funds for development, CCP assisted in developing pitch materials for the Icelandic children's showLazyTown.[7]In April 2000 the company, with Sigurður Arnljótsson as CEO, raised $2.6 million, through a closed offering organised byKaupthing Bank,from private investors in Iceland, including the Icelandictelephone companySíminn.He was with the company from 1999 to 2002 during which time the company raised two rounds of financing and secured a contract with publisherSimon & Schuster.Approximately half of the initial 21 employees came from Icelandicdot-com companyOZ Interactive.

White Wolf Publishing acquisition and CCP North America

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On 11 November 2006, it was announced that CCP Games had entered a merger agreement withWhite Wolf Publishing.[8][9]With the merge, the combined company planned to produce "the industry's most innovative games leveraging both online and offline systems".[10]While CCP Games looked into creating online games based on White Wolf Publishing's properties, White Wolf Publishing would in turn create card games based onEve Online.[11][12]On 3 October 2007, CCP Games announced that CCP North America, a new video game-focused subsidiary, would be set up within White Wolf Publishing'sStone Mountain, Georgia,location on 12 October, hiring 100 developers.[13][14]White Wolf PublishingpresidentMike Tinneywas additionally promoted head of CCP North America.[15][16][17]In February 2011, CCP Games announced that intentions to expand the location from their presently 150 positions to 300, and move the studio to new housing inDecatur, Georgia.[18][19][20][21]However, when CCP Games let go 20% of their worldwide staff, most of these layoffs occurred at CCP North America.[22][23]On 27 February 2012, Tinney stated that he had departed from both operations to focus on his new gaming-and-health startup, UtiliFIT.[24][25][26]In December 2013, further 15 people from theWorld of Darkness Onlinedevelopment team were let go.[27][28]White Wolf Publishing was acquired byParadox Interactiveon 29 October 2015.[29][30][31]The deal comprised an undisclosed all-cash sum for CCP Games, and the company assets of White Wolf Publishing, theirintellectual propertyand the rights toWorld of Darkness Onlinefor Paradox Interactive.[32][33][34]

Restructuring (2011–2017)

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Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP, in 2017

In October 2011, following a large controversy over its introduction ofmicrotransactionsto the gameEVE Online,CCP Games announced that it would be reducing its staff. CCP Games released an announcement to its community admitting that they had made a mistake by releasing the Incarna expansion in its current development stage. In the wake of the Incarna expansion and following a mass protest byEVE Onlineplayers, CCP Games announced that it had decided to prioritise and shift their focus from theirWorld of DarknessMMO back to theirEVE-Universe products,EVE OnlineandDust 514.The restructuring resulted in the layoffs of 20% of CCP Games' staff worldwide. The majority of these layoffs affected the Atlanta, United States, office, but also affected were several positions in CCP headquarters inReykjavík,Iceland. Even though after considerable downsizing, CCP Games claims thatEVE Onlineand its development is stronger than ever and that the company will continue to grow.[35]CCP Games confirmed that they had moved away from the Incarna/Ambulation project to focus on the core game mechanics and that Incarna may be revisited further down the line.[36]

On 28 August 2014, CCP Games shut down itsSan Franciscostudio to refocus their efforts onEVE Online.At the same time, CFO Joe Gallo and CMO David Reid resigned.[37]As of 2015, none of CCP Games' original founders were still with the company.

On 30 October 2017, CCP Games announced it would shutter its Atlanta studio, and sell off itsNewcastlestudio, affecting approximately 100 employees. It announced that it would shift its focus from VR development to PC and mobile game development.[citation needed]The Newcastle studio was absorbed bySumo Digital.[38]

Acquisition by Pearl Abyss (2018–present)

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Pearl Abyss,the South Korean publisher ofBlack Desert Online,announced on 6 September 2018 that they had agreed to acquire CCP Games for aboutUS$425 million.CCP's development studios in Reykjavík, London, and Shanghai would continue under CCP Games, while the publishing and marketing functions of CCP would be integrated with Pearl Abyss.[39]The deal was closed on 12 October.[1]At the time, CCP Games had 250 employees across three development studios.[1]

Games developed

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EVE Online

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Main article:Eve Online

EVE Onlineis CCP Games' first video game, originally published bySimon & Schusterin May 2003. CCP Games later reacquired the rights to publishEVE Onlineand continues to manage it to this day.EVE Online's core gameplay revolves around player decisions around mining, exploration, industry, factional warfare and piracy. A major design choice is the freedom to do what would be illegal activities, such asscammingfor in-game items.

Dust 514

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Main article:Dust 514

On 18 August 2009, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson announcedDust 514,a new ground-basedfirst-person shooter(FPS) withreal-time strategyelements being developed by CCP Games' Shanghai office.Dust 514was released for thePlayStation 3on 14 May 2013.[40]It featured a core first-person shooter experience, with a high level of customisation. The game was shut down by CCP Games on 30 May 2016.[41]

Eve: Valkyrie

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Main article:Eve: Valkyrie

Eve: Valkyriewas a first-person space combat simulator set in theEVE Onlineuniverse for theOculus Rifton 28 March 2016 and onPlayStation VRon 13 October 2016. It was made available for theHTC Viveon 17 November 2016. In the game, players took the role of an immortal fighter pilot, fighting with teams of other pilots to capture objectives and to defeat the opposing team. An update on 26 September 2017 allowed the game to be played without VR. As of August 5, 2022, CCP officially turned off all servers for the game, making the game unplayable.[42]

Gunjack

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Gunjackis a virtual-reality arcade shooter released for theSamsung Gear VRon 20 November 2015, theOculus Rifton 28 March 2016, and the HTC Vive on 5 April 2016. APlayStation VRversion is planned for release in 2016.[43]Players take the role of aturretoperator defending a mining operation, set in theEVE Onlineuniverse. It gathered positive critical reviews on release.[44][45]

Gunjack 2: End of Shift

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Gunjack 2: End of Shiftis a virtual-reality arcade shooter released forGoogle Daydreamon 8 December 2016. Players take the role of a turret operator defending a mining operation, set in theEVE Onlineuniverse.

Sparc

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Sparcwas a virtual realitysports gameand was CCP Games' first non-Evetitle.[46]The game was announced on 27 February 2016.[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][excessive citations]

Cancelled games

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World of Darkness Online

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Main article:World of Darkness (video game)

In October 2006, CCP Gameschief marketing officer,Magnús Bergsson, stated thatEvewould not be the only game to come out of CCP Games. On 11 November 2006 CCP Games andWhite Wolf Publishingjointly announced that CCP Games would be working on aWorld of Darkness Online.CCP Games planned to focus on the development of this game from March 2009 onward. It was scheduled to launch in 2012 at the earliest, but due to problems inEVE Online,several layoffs in 2011 and the planned release of the PlayStation 3 FPS gameDust 514in the summer of 2013, the launch of the game was delayed indefinitely.[55]On 14 April 2014, CCP Games announced that the game had been cancelled.

Project Legion

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Project Legionwas set to be afirst-person shooterfor similar toDust 514.[56]The project was cancelled in 2015 and was replaced withProject Nova.[57]

Eve: The Second Genesis

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Main article:Eve: The Second Genesis

Eve: The Second Genesisis acollectible card gameset in the universe created for the online gameEVE Online.Each player represents aCEOof a corporation, aligned with a particularrace,and through exploration, mining, and military strength, their goal is to defeat opponent CEOs.[citation needed]

Project Nova

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Project Novawas a class-basedfirst-person shooter(FPS) for the PC taking place in theEVE Onlineuniverse and was developed by CCP Games Shanghai.[57]Project Nova was created onUnreal Engine 4,and CCP Games intended to focus on the competitive FPS market, as well as focus more on small-scale ship-based combat and less on large-scale planet-based combat, which was the focus ofDust 514.While Project Nova was cancelled, The CCP London Studio has since started development an unnamed first-person shooter.[58]

Vanguard

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Vanguard is an in-developmentfirst-person shooter(FPS) taking place in theEVE Onlineuniverse.[59]

References

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  2. ^abGarratt, Patrick (15 June 2007)."10 Years of CCP".Eurogamer.Retrieved26 September2019.
  3. ^Yin-Poole, Wesley (7 April 2017)."Eve Online dev CCP has an in-house band - and they're coming to Rock Band 4".Eurogamer.Retrieved26 September2019.
  4. ^"Meet the Eve Online creator who CCP left behind".Eurogamer.net.22 June 2014.
  5. ^Boyes, Emma (13 November 2006)."CCP and White Wolf merge".GameSpot.Retrieved26 September2019.
  6. ^Lien, Tracey (24 February 2014)."Eve: The most thrilling boring game in the universe".Polygon.Retrieved24 January2017.
  7. ^Stofnun og saga fyrirtækisinsArchived26 January 2023 at theWayback Machine
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  12. ^"CCP and...White Wolf? Okay, I didn't see that one coming".arstechnica.com.13 November 2006.Retrieved18 May2018.
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  14. ^Alexander, Leigh (3 October 2007)."CCP Opens North American Headquarters".Game Developer.Retrieved2 May2022.
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  36. ^Grayson, Nathan (21 October 2011)."Interview: EVE Online's Kristoffer Touborg".PC Gamer.Retrieved24 January2017.
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  44. ^Lang, Ben (19 November 2015)."Review: 'Gunjack' Sets the Bar for Gear VR Turret Shooters".Road to VR.Retrieved24 January2017.
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  56. ^Kuchera, Ben (2 May 2014)."Project Legion is a new PC shooter from the people behindEVE Online".Polygon.Retrieved24 January2017.
  57. ^abHillier, Brenna (22 April 2016)."EVE Online's Project Legion replaced with Project Nova".VG247.Retrieved2 May2022.
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