Big shake-up at Eve Online dev CCP

By Robert Purchese Published 19 October, 2011

World of Darkness worst hit.

Eve Online developer CCP has admitted making "mistakes" due to biting off more than it can chew. Eve Online subscriber numbers have fallen since their peak this summer.

"We have come to the conclusion that we are attempting too many things for a company our size. Developing Eve expansions, DUST 514 and World of Darkness has stretched our resources too thin," a CCP statement read.

"Rather than allowing this to persist, we have made the decision to sharpen our focus.

"Sadly, this means reducing our staff."

The lay-offs - estimated at 20 per cent of the CCP global workforce - will hit vampire MMO World of Darkness hardest. The project won't be cancelled, but will continue with a "significantly reduced team".

Eve Online and Dust 514 - the PS3 shooter that exists within the Eve universe - will become the company's main focus.

Eve Online has been plagued by controversy in recent months, culminating this month in an open and candid apology by CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson.

But CCP declared in today's statement that "Eve Online is in good health".

"Our subscriber numbers are higher today than they were a year ago. Unlike many other MMO's on the market, we have continued to grow year-on-year since launch in 2003.

"However," CCP went on, "over the past two months, our subscribers have gone down from their peak this summer. We attribute this to our own mistakes and poor communications with our players. We are correcting that now."

CCP was equally confident about the future of World of Darkness, a project that has never been more than a whisper since its announcement in 2006.

"World of Darkness lives on," CCP wrote. "Its concepts are revolutionary.

"CCP continues to believe that it will alter the landscape of the MMO as significantly as Eve has done, but we need more time to continue to develop them before dedicating the substantial resources required to bring this experience to market."

Dust 514.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #1 7 months ago

    Were spread to thin here, quick fire people!!!

    Wait a minute!

  • thedaveeyres #2 7 months ago

    I can't help but think they'd be well served by binning Dust 514. I'm not sure what market it's going to appeal to.

  • telboy007 #3 7 months ago

    Ship spinning is back, all is well.

    Right? RIGHT?!?!?!

  • Gahro #4 7 months ago

    So they have too much stuff to work on compared to the amount of people and their answer is to reduce staff?

    :S

  • optimusprym8 #5 7 months ago

    Boo, too many MMO companies reducing numbers at the moment, expect more public announcements from others soon enough

  • homerramone #6 7 months ago

    Maybe they should quit development of Dust and start instead with 'Rocket Science Simulator'

  • onestepfromlost #7 7 months ago

    Yeah im not really following the logic here. We are spread to thin to provide our customers the sercive they desserve. So lets reduce our numbers so we have less people to deal with issues and things are going to take longer.

  • NorUraeus #8 7 months ago

    Ok, after thinking a bit about it I guess it makes sense. They are too small to do 3 projects in parallel, but by going down to 2 projects they end with to high a headcount for that. So some devs gets moved to Eve and Dust514, while 20 are let go.

  • Clive_Dunn #9 7 months ago

    So, not only happy with fucking off a load of his subscribers, the CEO now feels the need to piss the staff off as well.

    I'd suggest it's time to wake up with a virtual horses head, but then again that'd probably be an incredibly expensive item to buy in Eve-world.

  • Velios #10 7 months ago

    This is all about making the customers of it's 'Golden Goose' EVE feel loved again. And tbh, Vampires are so 2009 anyway.

  • Dizzy #11 7 months ago

    Wrong again CCP.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #12 7 months ago

    Dust 514 would have been a better sacrifice, to my mind. Or both. Why not stick with Eve and only Eve?

  • optimusprym8 #13 7 months ago

    100 ppl let go, not 20. That's 20%

  • Crea #14 7 months ago

    I think there's a non-trivial chance of CCP not surviving the next year, more's the pity. If rumours about their level of debt are true, they've basically spent all the EVE profits, and then some, on WoD and Dust.

  • Cosquae #15 7 months ago

    @Bertie

    Dust is far further along the pipeline than WoD. Also any major delay to a PS3 exclusive risks pushing the title dangerously close to a PS4 announcement since Dust is still a year or so away.

    Problem with sticking with Eve is putting all your eggs in a sub-based basket just as subs are going out of fashion. If WoW dropped subs (not out of the question) then you're suddenly looking at an expensive game with no other sources of income.

  • dirtysteve #16 7 months ago

    This does not make a type of sense that I am familiar with. Surely now WoD is going to be borked? I can't imagine that the WoD trademark holders will be pleased. You offer to take it in, then slash it, in favour of your own project?

  • DanForinton #17 7 months ago

    "Our subscriber numbers are higher today than they were a year ago"

    Since they've just done a promotion offering lapsed subscribers a month's sub for peanuts, this statistic means nothing. Let's see how they're doing at the beginning of December(cheap sub offer expires Oct 24, allow 1 month for players to lapse again).

  • Scopeh #18 7 months ago

    just make EVE 2 so i cant start playing

  • telboy007 #19 7 months ago

    ^ Eve is Eve 2 and will be Eve 3, etc etc... expansions and higher PC spec requirements galore.

  • Xardan #20 7 months ago

    Dust 514 on PS3 only was a stupid idea too, am certain they wont see large returns because of it, and i expect will effect focus on their bigger priority EVE online.

  • nagi #21 7 months ago

    So, CCP basically applied the banhammer to themselves.

    Frankly, serves them right.

  • Chibi-Kibou #22 7 months ago

    Beh, 'was looking forward to the WoD MMO.. -.-

    'Hope it isn't too horribly set back.
    Edited by Chibi-Kibou at 19/10/11 @ 20:34

  • 4gate #23 7 months ago

    Spaceships spaceships spaceships spaceships. Stick to that, job will be a good 'un.

  • dadrester #24 7 months ago

    So some devs gets moved to Eve and Dust514, while 20 are let go.

    20% not 20. Hope no one in Newcastle is affected... unless of course they decide to start their own company... and decide to employ me.

  • krakead #25 7 months ago

    @dirtysteve CCP *own* the WoD IP - they bought White Wolf a few years ago.

  • Gurgeh #26 7 months ago

    IIRC October was when CCP's bank loans either had to be repaid or refinanced, or the company would go bankrupt. The redundancies are probably the result of a refinance agreement with whatever is left of the Icelandic banks.

  • Sutorcen #27 7 months ago

    "We have come to the conclusion that we are attempting too many things for a company our size. Developing Eve expansions, DUST 514 and World of Darkness has stretched our resources too thin,"

    LOL.. so let me get this straight. In order to sharpen your focus... you fire people? Which will put more strain to the rest of the people working for you? How exactly is this helping you sharpen your focus? Oh wait. It''s all about the money. Well, I guess that happens when you turn from a small company that did something right, to greedy bastards.