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 ("
Danger Game"). 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.
Acquisition by Pearl Abyss (2018–2026) Pearl Abyss, the South Korean publisher of
Black Desert Online, announced on 6 September 2018 that they had agreed to acquire CCP Games for about of which depended on performance based targets. CCP's development studios in Reykjavík, London, and Shanghai would continue under CCP Games, while the publishing and marketing functions of CCP would be integrated with Pearl Abyss. The deal was closed on 12 October. At the time, CCP Games had 250 employees across three development studios. == Games developed ==