I’m sure that most of you heard that EVE Online went free-to-play about three months ago, but it looks like the game’s developers are actually considering taking things further by selling their company altogether. Sources indicate that CCP are currently “exploring strategic options including a sale of the business,” but it’s worth noting that CCP’s PR representative has not issued an official comment regarding the subject at the time of writing. Considering that it developed one of the oldest and most successful space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing games in existence, CCP could be worth as much as $995 million.
In the event of an acquisition, the new owners will likely want to keep EVE Online running for as long as possible, as the title still has a strong subscriber base, not to mention the large player influx generated by the free-to-play option. We could be looking at some changes in the future for this acclaimed title, but EVE Online devs usually chose to let the community create its own original stories through conflict and intrigue. That’s exactly what makes the game so appealing in the first place, which is why I’m hoping that CCP will keep its business and will let the game carry on as it did until now.
