Pearl Abyss has sold CCP back to its CEO for less than half the original purchase price, along with an additional $20 million in cryptocurrency

EVE Frontier

Image credit: CCP Games

Pearl Abyss has offloaded CCP Games, the developers behind Eve Online, to Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, the current CEO. The transaction was set at $100 million in cash and an additional $20 million in "token acquisition rights." This buyback comes eight years after Pearl Abyss acquired CCP for $225 million upfront and a $200 million incentive-based payout. This information was disclosed by the Korean publication Digital Today.

The term "tokens" is believed to pertain to Eve Frontier, a blockchain-oriented survival game. In 2023, CCP Games secured $40 million in funding for this game, spearheaded by Andreessen Horowitz, a major VC firm with a focus on cryptocurrency. Currently, Eve Frontier is in a pre-release phase and interested players can obtain access by purchasing the Founder Access. The game's Terms of Service mention "Alpha Tokens" and specifically distance themselves from any liability related to these tokens or their wallets.

Pearl Abyss communicated to Inven Global that they opted to sell CCP Games back to its current management after evaluating mid-to-long-term growth strategies. They described the price as objectively established, taking into account CCP's existing business model and market scenario.

Pearl Abyss commented that their initial acquisition was meant to secure global IP and diversify their offerings but acknowledged a shift in the global gaming landscape and their strategic objectives since then.

CCP Games acknowledged the reports concerning its ownership and clarified that they are currently finalizing legal procedures for this change. The company assured that this change would affect only governance and not the teams or ongoing projects.

CCP Games has been endeavoring to broaden the Eve franchise beyond its MMO roots, though certain spin-off projects were canceled before Pearl Abyss took ownership in 2018. Another project in the works is Vanguard, an extraction shooter scheduled to launch after an October 2025 trial.

Pearl Abyss has achieved remarkable success with Crimson Desert, which exceeded five million sales since its March release. According to their latest financial report, Eve Online contributes approximately one-third of Pearl Abyss's revenue, with the remainder coming from Black Desert.