CCP Games, a developer best known for EVE Online, has gone through several changes over the past year. In addition to winding down VR development, they sold off their Newcastle Studio to Sumo Digital and outright shut down their branch in Atlanta. Today, we learned of the biggest change yet, which should hopefully keep things stable. Pearl Abyss, a South Korean studio known for Black Desert Online, is in the process of acquiring CCP Games.
After this acquisition, Pearl Abyss will own all three of CCP Games’ currently operating studios in London, Shanghai, and Reykjavik. CCP Games is still supposed to function independently, though Pearl Abyss will take advantage of the additional developer talent for both current and future projects. At this time, it does not seem like any of CCP Games current projects will be impacted by the acquisition, though that could change.
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games, discussed why his studio decided to go through with the acquisition:
“I have been seriously impressed with what Pearl Abyss has achieved ever since I first visited their website for Black Desert Online and subsequently became an avid player of the game. Pearl Abyss is a fast-growing company with lots to offer in terms of technology, capability and vision. 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
Meanwhile, Pearl Abyss CEO Robin Jung seems to be elated about acquiring the Icelandic Studio:
“We are thrilled to have CCP Games join our team as Black Desert Online continues to branch out globally. CCP is a seasoned publisher with over 15 years of digital distribution experience and know-how. They have done an incredible job of engaging and maintaining their playerbase, which we aim to learn from and hope to integrate natively into Pearl Abyss’ general practices across all our games.
I am confident CCP’s reputable IP and expertise in global publishing will help reaffirm our company’s dedication to developing and servicing the world’s best MMORPGs.
DualShockers will be sure to let you know what CCP Games and Pearl Abyss work together on next or if any of CCP Games projects will be negatively impacted by this acquisition once it goes through.