CCP Games, the developer of EVE Online, has laid off 13 employees across its Reykjavik and London studios as part of what the developer calls a restructure across its development, publishing, and operations teams.
CCP Games was hit with layoffs this year as the developer had what it calls a "realignment" in its development plans, which lead to the layoffs across the two studios. We first caught wind this might be happening thanks to a social media post made by a now-former employee. From there we were able to independently verify that the studio was hit with layoffs this year, though not nearly as widespread as other studios have been in 2023 already. We reached out to CCP Games on Friday for clarification and confirmation.
However, despite the layoffs, which were the result of redundancies at the positions following the realignment, CCP's Communications Director George Kelion states that the team has also identified and opened up new roles for hire in the process. CCP Games also confirmed that those affected would be given assistance and outreach to industry recruiters as part of the process.
Via a statement by George Kelion, Communications Director at CCP Games provided to us this morning:
"Due to realignment in our development plans leading to a restructure across development, publishing, and operations, we have made the tough decision to make a small number of redundancies - 7 at our Reykjavik studio and 6 at our London studio - while also identifying and opening new roles for hire. This decision was not taken lightly, and we are providing those affected with outplacement support and guidance, including paid private coaching and outreach to recruitment contacts."
The layoffs come as CCP Games gears up to celebrate 20 years of EVE Online this year. The developer has big plans for one of the best sci-fi MMOs out right now, including the recently released Direct Enlistment feature on the Singularity test server which allows any player, regardless of corporation affiliation, to enlist in one of the four NPC Empires as part of the newly reinvigorated factional warfare. CCP Games is also calling on players to be part of a commemorative mosaic that will be unveiled in May.
Lee Yancy also contributed to this report.
Update 4:11 PM ET - We've clarified this report as its initial reporting made it seem it was just the EVE Online team was affected by layoffs. The London studio is working on a multiplayer shooter as was teased during last year's EVE Fanfest.
Update 12:46 AM ET 3/7 - We've updated this report to clarify that the Direct Enlistment feature is only available on the Singularity Test server at the moment as the original version of the article made it appear as though it was on the live server. We apologize for this error. Thanks to Rushlock on Twitter for the heads up!
