CCP has confirmed that it’s cancelling its long in-the-works MMO World of Darkness and will be laying off staff.
CCP has confirmed that it is cancelling its long in development MMO World of Darkness.The company also confirmed that it will be laying off 56 employees from the Atlanta studio that has been working on the game for close to a decade. Via press release, CEO Hilmar Petursson said the choice to end work on the game was a difficult one.
“The decision to end the World of Darkness MMO project is one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make. I have always loved and valued the idea of a sandbox experience set in that universe, and over the years I’ve watched the team passionately strive to make that possible,” Petursson said in the statement. “I would like to give special thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the World of Darkness MMO a reality, especially the team members affected by this decision.” The release affirmed that CCP is making efforts to reabsorb some of the affected employees into different positions within the company.
In addition to his regrets over the hardship to CCP’s staff, Petursson also expressed disappointment that the company’s ambitious vision for World of Darkness will never come to fruition. “I am truly sorry that we could not deliver the experience that we aspired to make,” he said. “We dreamed of a game that would transport you completely into the sweeping fantasy of World of Darkness, but had to admit that our efforts were falling regretfully short.”
Development began on World of Darkness back in 2006 when CCP purchased White Wolf, the makers of the World of Darkness pen and paper game. Reports over the intervening years had pegged the game as including territory control options to similar to EVE Online. Some plans also indicated that the game would give some users the ability to permanently kill other player characters. This cancellation in turn, though perhaps not unexpected, is likely to leave many prospective players disappointed.
