White Wolf’s owners CCP have today announced that the World of Darkness massively multiplayer RPG has been cancelled. This means 56 employees in the Atlanta studio have lost their jobs although some, thankfully, from the office have been offered other roles in the company. Today, the CCP site is still advertising for jobs in Atlanta for the project.
CCP will now focus on games set in the EVE Universe. CEO Himar Veigar wrote;
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.
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. Their considerable contribution to CCP will not be forgotten, and we wish them well.
To our current and former employees and fans of World of Darkness, I am truly sorry that we could not deliver the experience that we aspired to make. 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. One day I hope we will make it up to you.
Although this was a tough decision that affects our friends and family, uniting the company behind the EVE Universe will put us in a stronger position moving forward, and we are more committed than ever to solidify EVE as the biggest gaming universe in the world.
The World of Darkness MMO had been 8 years in the making. It’s likely that Onyx Path Publishing will be largely uneffected. The company has the license for the World of Darkness books and has been going great guns with deluxe projects and 20th anniversary reprints on Kickstarter.
