Values from games should be widely used in reality, says CCP Games CEO

The play-to-earn (P2E) model is not a new concept in the gaming industry and will be more important in the long term, global online gaming company CCP Games chief executive Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said in an interview with The Korea Economic Daily. The Iceland-headquartered gaming company was acquired by South Korean gaming company Pearl Abyss Corp. for $425 million in 2018.

“Gamers hope that the values created from online games can also be used in reality. The online gaming content should have practical values in the real world,” he added. “The gaming industry should evolve to allow gamers to make retirement plans by using the money they earn from games.”   

Founded in 1997, the Icelandic gaming company launched its famous science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) EVE Online in 2003. In the game, currently enjoyed by over 40 million worldwide users, gamers can experience space exploration, player versus player (PvP) or player versus environment (PvE) battles while creating space history in the virtual world. The annual festival of the game, EVE Fanfest, attracts thousands of global fans including the president of Iceland, Guðni Jóhannesson.

CCP Games is also well known for its unique business operation, such as hiring an economist as its chief economist to manage the financial ecosystem within the games.

The company is experimenting with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in its games as well. It awarded users with NFTs during its annual e-sports event Alliance Tournament XVII held in November. After killing an opponent in a game, gamers were able to immortalize their victorious moments in the form of an NFT, and then collect and trade the NFTs on Tezos, a decentralized and open-source blockchain platform.

“We have conducted research related to NFT and blockchain as they are based on a decentralized system, which is similar to CCP Games' operation. However, it is a little too early for us to entirely introduce NFTs or P2E,” Pétursson said. If the company introduces the P2E system in earnest, it may divide players between those who simply enjoy gaming and those who are focused on earning money, thus complicating the dynamics between the two types of users, he added.

Although the NFT market is overheated, it will gradually stabilize and the related technologies and services will continue to improve, the CEO said. P2E is in its infancy and will grow as a key concept in the gaming industry, he added.

Expanding intellectual property (IP) rights of EVE Online, the game developer has partnered with US comic book publisher Dark Horse Comics and released the online miniseries EVE Online: Capsuleer Chronicles earlier this month. Seeking innovative business know-how, the gaming company will strengthen its ties with parent company Pearl Abyss, the CEO added.