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Eve Online dev laying off 100+

CCP downsizing 20% of staff, places focus on Eve Online and Dust 514; World of Darkness progressing with "significantly reduced" development team.

Eve Online developer CCP Games today announced a round of layoffs that will hit an estimated 20 percent of the company and slow work on one of its major titles. CCP's official website lists its headcount at more than 600 people, suggesting some 120 people will lose their jobs in the downsizing.

Eve Online subscriptions shrank after CCP launched its latest expansion.

"[W]e have come to the conclusion that we are attempting too many things for a company our size," the company said in a statement. "Developing Eve expansions, Dust 514, and World of Darkness has stretched our resources too thin."

As a result, CCP is placing its focus on the Eve Online universe, which means more expansions for the online PC game and continued work for the tie-in PlayStation 3 first-person shooter Dust 514. The publisher stressed Eve Online is "in good health," though it did acknowledge a drop in subscribers since the summer.

The company isn't outright cancelling World of Darkness, but it did say development on the game would continue "with a significantly reduced team."

"World of Darkness lives on," the company said. "Its concepts are revolutionary. CCP continues to believe that it will alter the landscape of the MMO as significantly as EVE has done but we need more time to continue to develop them before dedicating the substantial resources required to bring this experience to market."

The majority of the job cuts for the Icelandic company will come from its Atlanta, Georgia operations. However, "select positions" in its Reykjavik headquarters will also be eliminated.

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