CCP closes two studios as it shifts away from VR development

EVE Online developer CCP has announced that it is shifting its development focus away from virtual reality, which is a surprise given how invested the company has been in the medium.

The MMO developer has created four VR games so far including two EVE Gunjack games for mobile VR and PSVR/PC, EVE Valkyrie and Sparc all for PC and PSVR. The company has received investment specifically for VR development and it isn’t counting out the medium but letting it settle for a little while.

"This has been a good deal, but now we see some credit in this market for the next 2-3 years," said CCP CEO, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, to Icelandic news outlet, MBL, "We are going to focus more on PC games and mobile phone games," he says, but the company started to play mobile phone games for about 18 months. We have faith in the virtual reality in the long run. Virtual reality will eventually change the world.”

The move will see CCP close its Atlanta, US studio and it will look to sell its studio in Newcastle, UK. Redistribution of staff is underway but it is thought that over 100 jobs will be affected by the closure and sale of studios. “It’s always hard to do such actions but they are important and if we want the company to reach 30 years, we sometimes need to make policy and organizational changes," added Pétursson.

CCP has been a big player in the triple-A VR development arena. Its games have been met with critical acclaim and were one of the first to offer crossplay between PSVR and PC users with EVE Valkyrie. It also has an esports contender for VR with Sparc. We hope any affected staff find new roles soon.