I’d first comment that this “news” appears to be taken from a less-than-official Korean gaming rumour news site. The numbers mentioned don’t appear to jive with PA’s own published finances and reports about CCP. Although of course, with modern companies there’s always financial skullduggery to consider.
So I’d take all this with more than a few grains of salt until there’s something more solid than what might be the Korean version of “The National Enquire” to go on.
The deal as published included a ‘base amount’ plus “performance incentives” for goals to be achieved by CCP. It’s been a while but I think it was something like $250 million plus another $175 million in ‘incentive goals’.
Other articles along the way mentioned that CCP achieved none of the performance goals, so CCP was acquired for the base amount. It’s not uncommon for business buyouts to be advertised this way, in order to make both companies appear more valuable.
(Note this is all from memory as I CBA to dig up links for more CCP mismanagement. Numbers may be off but those are the ballpark ranges.)
I think this would have to be the key in any transfer. Getting rid of the fossilized management and design team with their institutional incompetence and detachment from the realities of the game. CCP desperately needs a team with vision and the ability both to envision and execute a future for EVE.
A future based on more than another round of Hilmar/Berger/Rattati “corpspeak” vaporware and “we’re super-excited to announce well, not much, but hey it’s better than nothing!” dev-blogs.
Note: I sometimes give pretty harsh critiques of CCP management. Calling for someone to be fired or retired is pretty harsh criticism, after all. Just to be clear: I think the team at CCP are nice and fun and interesting people. I think Hilmar may not be the CEO this game needs, but he’s done hella work over the years keeping the whole thing afloat when many other game devs failed along the way.
I just think they’ve lost the true creative and coding skills that CCP needs, but they’re in too comfortable a rut and too “ivory tower” a mindset to take EVE (or any other game, frankly) in the directions it needs to go.
EVE needs and deserves a team with fresh skills and fresh ideas, IMO. If a buyout was to happen, I’d hope that would be part of the changes. But for now, waiting for something a little more official to come along.
