According to reporting on Korean financial news site Money Today, CCP Games – and therefore EVE Online – are back on the market.
Readers will surely recall that Korean games company Pearl Abyss, then best known for the massive “big five” MMORPG Black Desert, bought CCP Games all the way back in 2018, stunning players of its long-running sci-fi sandbox MMO.
But now, MTN says that the companies have “selected an underwriter for the sale of CCP and are sounding out multiple game companies for their interest in acquiring it,” Pearl Abyss having originally purchased it for a whopping 250B KRW ($180M US) to acquire its playerbase and mobile platform, though apparently in PA’s eyes it “fell short of initial expectations.”
Naturally, the EVE Online playerbase is taking this all extremely well. In seriousness, it’s not really the EVE Online playerbase that is the problem to begin with. We cover Pearl Abyss’ financials every quarter, so we know EVE Online brought in nearly $60M in revenues in 2024 alone. For a quick comparison, that’s only slightly less than Guild Wars 2 brought in for NCsoft ($67M) over the same period; all of Daybreak’s games together pulled in $80M. EVE Online is more than carrying its own weight.
CCP Games’ problem is what CCP Games’ problem has always been, the same problem that led to the buyout in the first place: CCP’s leaders overextend and overspend on developing new games that simply do not pan out. Last year, MOP’s Justin compiled a top 10 list of all the weird EVE Online spinoffs and other projects CCP Games has attempted: DUST 514, EVE Valkyrie, EVE Gunjack, Project Legion, EVE Echoes, Project Nova, and EVE Galaxy Conquest – and that’s without even mentioning Sparc and CCP’s other VR failed ambitions (a reader reminded us about World of Darkness, too!). Of those, only EVE Echoes, developed in conjunction with NetEase, is still functioning. And right now, the studio is pouring EVE Online’s revenues into upcoming MMOFPS EVE Vanguard and its blockchain monstrosity EVE Frontier, which makes CCP’s balance sheet look dreadful as it slowly loses money. If Pearl Abyss couldn’t get CCP to turn that around, maybe another company would have better luck.
• Pearl Abyss has apparently put CCP Games – and EVE Online – up for sale • Pearl Abyss Q1 2025: Black Desert Mobile’s Chinese endeavor is over • We finally have some clean numbers on how well EVE Online and Black Desert performed last year • Pearl Abyss Q4 2024: PA is obscuring EVE Online and Black Desert revenues in its best quarter all year • Pearl Abyss Q3 2024: Black Desert declines, EVE Online flattens, Crimson Desert dithers • Pearl Abyss Q2 2024: Equinox bolstered EVE Online revenues as Crimson Desert waits in the wings • Pearl Abyss Q1 2024: Revenues hold steady as Crimson Desert gears up for reveals • Black Desert celebrates 55M registered players and €2B revenue since 2014 • Pearl Abyss Q4 2023: Well at least EVE Online had a good financial year • Pearl Abyss Q3 2023: Black Desert’s Land of the Morning Light pulled PA out of its slump • Pearl Abyss Q2 2023: EVE surges, Black Desert stumbles, Crimson Desert hedges • Pearl Abyss Q1 2023: Black Desert and EVE Online revenues continue to decline • CCP Games’ CEO defends Project Awakening’s existence as the studio seeks a blockchain ecosystem dev • MMO Week in Review: Carn Dûm, Diablo IV, and CCP’s blockchain gamble • CCP Games laid off more than dozen staffers from its EVE Online and FPS studios • Pearl Abyss Q4 2022: Revenues decline as Black Desert and EVE hold steady and Crimson Desert malingers • Pearl Abyss Q3 2022: DokeV and Crimson Desert delays, CCP’s new blockchain game, and EVE Online’s uptick • CCP Games’ VR multiplayer game aspirations expire as EVE Valkyrie, Sparc, and EVE Gunjack go dark • Pearl Abyss Q1 2022: Black Desert revenues take a hit, EVE Online hangs in there • EVE Online boss: NFT stands for ‘Not for Tranquility’ • EVE Online and Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss believes it can ‘create a stable blockchain ecosystem’ • Desert Oasis: Unearthing the origin story of Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss • Pearl Abyss downgraded DokeV from an MMORPG to ‘open-world action adventure’ • Pearl Abyss has delayed Crimson Desert indefinitely • Pearl Abyss Q4 2020: An overall drop in profits and revenue but a revenue rise on PC • Pearl Abyss Q3 2020: EVE Online’s revenues are up 45% YOY, Crimson Desert reveal coming in December • Pearl Abyss Q2 2020: EVE Online is doing great, NA/EU drives 48% of company revenues • Pearl Abyss Q1 2020 financials: Black Desert, EVE Online revenues hold steady • Pearl Abyss had a strong Q4 2019, but CCP’s EVE-spinoff Project Nova is officially canceled • G-Star 2019: Pearl Abyss fully reveals Crimson Desert, Plan 8, Shadow Arena, and DokeV • Pearl Abyss announces three new MMOs: Crimson Desert, Plan 8, and DokeV • Q2 2019 financials: Black Desert’s Pearl Abyss rakes in huge profits, builds six new games • Black Desert has 18M registered players as Pearl Abyss counts $1B gross sales • EVE Online developer CCP Games bought by Black Desert Online studio Pearl Abyss • Q1 2018: Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss had a record first quarter thanks to mobile Source: MTN. Cheers, Crimson!
