Pearl Abyss, the Korea-based developer behind Black Desert Online, will purchase EVE Online publisher CCP Games, the companies announced today. CCP Games will “continue to operate independently,” according to a press release, as well as contributing its publishing and development experience to Pearl Abyss’ projects.
In the press release, CCP Games’ CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson called himself an “avid player” of Black Desert Online, which has been in operation since 2014.
At the end of 2016, Bloomberg reported that CCP was eyeing a sale, which caused some consternation among the EVE community.
Players’ reaction to the idea of a sale was largely negative, with most players seeming scared that other companies wouldn’t “get” EVE the same way that CCP Games seemed to, and that the game would quickly become unrecognizable. With Pearl Abyss stating its intention to leave CCP in charge of EVE Online, hopefully some of these fears will be assuaged for the present.
There can be no denying the logic behind the move from a business perspective, though. Pearl Abyss has taken the MMO market by storm in the four years since the release of Black Desert Online.
The game has been released in 150 countries and boasts over 9.5 million registered users. By purchasing CCP, Pearl Abyss can take advantage of its 15 years of worldwide development and publishing experience, which will no doubt assist in Pearl Abyss’ growth..
What it all means for EVE players is still up in the air.
Comments
4 responses to “Black Desert Online Developer Will Acquire EVE Online Publisher”
Rip CCP
Yeah… we’ll see how long that lasts.
Big companies don’t acquire smaller ones just to leave them alone.
Just look at EA. They’re one failed release from killing off Bioware.
Welp, good bye Eve. You made for some really interesting stories.
This is huge! I love both games.
After PA put Black Desert in the ground – nothing good can come of this.