Eve devs CCP took a big bet on virtual reality, with Eve: Valkyrie being one of the platform’s early flagships. That changed in the last year with the closure of their key VR studios in Atlanta and Newcastle, and CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson has now addressed that decision.
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Speaking at Fanfest, CCP’s annual community event,Pétursson says:
“Last year we went really big into VR; we made some landmark products across the board. Despite our groundbreaking success in VR by VR standards [the multiplayer market] just isn’t there. So we decided to pursue activities closer to our own DNA with Eve, and some of the things we’re going to be talking about here.”
If you’re a fan of CCP’s VR games,Pétursson says they will “continue to support and maintain” them, “as well as continue to investigate opportunities to bring in wider audiences. I’m very proud of the products we released and especially the teams that made them.”
But it’s clear that Pétursson’s passion for VR is undimmed. “VR is fundamentally a brand new medium,” he says. “It’s in its very early stages, but we still believe that in the future it will become a new computer/human interface, bring about cyberspace, and eventualy pod technology.”
The news is a blow for VR fans, as CCP have invested heavily in the medium and given it some of its few recognisable franchise games. CCP Newcastle was picked up by Sumo Digital, a leading UK indie studio. They are now collaborating with CCP on Project Nova, a multiplayer FPS that will eventually tie in to Eve Online.