CCP Games, the Icelandic mob who make spacebastard sandbox Eve Online, are being purchased up by the South Korean lot behind Black Desert Online (that MMORPG with the weird and wonderful character creator). Pearl Abyss are to pay $425 million (about £330m) for CCP, with the plan that CCP will proceed to run and work on their very own games whereas additionally lending their experience to Pearl. Though maybe it’s too early to rule out the chance that that is a part of one other grand scheme or double-cross from an Eve participant searching for a bonus over their spacefoes, the most costly but.
The plan for the acquisition, in line with today’s announcement, is that “CCP Games will continue to operate independently as a developer with studios in Reykjavik, London and Shanghai, while integrating the company’s extensive development and publishing expertise into Pearl Abyss’ operations for all current and future projects.”
CCP have reduce off and bought a variety of items of themselves lately. Following the final death of their World Of Darkness MMO, CCP sold White Wolf (with all their Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse and all that) to Paradox Interactive in 2015. CCP additionally bought their Newcastle studio (the one behind VR-focused shooter spin-off Eve: Valkyrie) to Sumo Digital earlier this yr. They’ve pulled away from VR too. Now Pearl are shopping for the remaining.
CCP do nonetheless comprise three studios, thoughts. Last we heard, they’re nonetheless engaged on the brand new Eve first-person shooter spin-off codenamed Project Nova. And Eve itself, after all, which remains to be generating plenty of drama for even informal observers to take pleasure in (to not point out the editors of space newspapers).
“Pearl Abyss is a fast-growing company with lots to offer in terms of technology, capability and vision,” CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson stated. “I believe our two companies have a lot to learn from each other. We are very excited to join forces with them and achieve great new heights for our companies, our games and – above all – our players.”
Time will inform, as with all mergers – and all of enterprise. It is at the least promising that Pearl Abyss have made a good game themselves, or so Steven Messner thought in his 2016 Black Desert Online review.
