CCP Games
CCP ehf., doing business as CCP Games, is an Icelandic video game developer based in Reykjavík. Novator Partners and General Catalyst had previously collectively owned a majority stake in the company, and in September 2018, CCP was acquired by South Korean video game publisher Pearl Abyss for US$425 million. CCP Games is best known for developing Eve Online, which was released in 2003 and has since been maintained.
History
CCP Games was founded in June 1997 by Reynir Harðarson, Þórólfur Beck Kristjónsson and Ívar Kristjánsson for the purpose of making MMORPGs. Harðarson was working at a metaverse company called OZ Interactive who 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.The name "CCP" is short for "Crowd Control Productions". To finance the initial development of Eve Online, CCP Games developed and published a board game, called Hættuspil. The game sold more than 10,000 copies to Iceland's 80,000 households.
While seeking funds for development, CCP assisted in developing pitch materials for the Icelandic children's show LazyTown. In April 2000 the company, with Sigurður Arnljótsson as CEO, raised $2.6 million, through a closed offering organised by Kaupthing Bank, from private investors in Iceland, including the Icelandic telephone company Síminn. Arnljótsson was with the company from 1999 to 2002, during which time the company raised two rounds of financing and secured a contract with publisher Simon & Schuster. Approximately half of the initial 21 employees came from Icelandic dot-com company OZ Interactive.
White Wolf Publishing acquisition and CCP North America
On 11 November 2006, it was announced that CCP Games had entered a merger agreement with White Wolf Publishing. With the merge, the combined company planned to produce "the industry's most innovative games leveraging both online and offline systems". 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 on Eve Online. 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's Stone Mountain, Georgia, location on 12 October, hiring 100 developers. White Wolf Publishing president Mike Tinney was additionally promoted to head of CCP North America. 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 in Decatur, Georgia. However, when CCP Games let go 20% of their worldwide staff, most of these layoffs occurred at CCP North America. On 27 February 2012, Tinney stated that he had departed from both operations to focus on his new gaming-and-health startup, UtiliFIT. In December 2013, another 15 people from the World of Darkness Online development team were let go. White Wolf Publishing was acquired by Paradox Interactive on 29 October 2015. The deal comprised an undisclosed all-cash sum for CCP Games, and the company assets of White Wolf Publishing, their intellectual property and the rights to World of Darkness Online for Paradox Interactive.Restructuring (2011–2017)
In October 2011, following a large controversy over its introduction of microtransactions to the game EVE Online, CCP Games announced that it would be reducing its staff. CCP Games published an announcement to its community admitting that it was a mistake to release the Incarna expansion in its stage of development at the time. In the wake of the Incarna expansion and following a mass protest by EVE Online players, CCP Games announced that it had decided to prioritise and shift focus from their World of Darkness MMO back to EVE-Universe products, EVE Online and Dust 514. The restructuring resulted in the layoff of 20% of CCP Games' staff worldwide. The majority of these layoffs affected the Atlanta office, but also terminated several positions in CCP headquarters in Reykjavík, Iceland. Despite considerable downsizing, CCP Games claims that EVE Online and its development is stronger than ever and that the company will continue to grow. 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.On 28 August 2014, CCP Games shut down its San Francisco studio to refocus efforts on EVE Online. At the same time, CFO Joe Gallo and CMO David Reid resigned. 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 its Newcastle studio, affecting approximately 1000 employees. It announced that it would shift its focus from VR development to PC and mobile game development. The Newcastle studio was absorbed by Sumo Digital.