让CCP的CEO Hilmar Petursson告诉你他怎么就觉得能和韩国愉快的玩耍（已获授权）
原文标题：Hilmar Veigar Pétursson interview — Why CCP thinks Iceland and South Korea are a good mix
原作者：Gamesbeat
原文链接：https://venturebeat.com/2018/09/06/hilmar-veigar-petursson-interview-why-ccp-thinks-iceland-and-south-korea-are-a-good-mix/
翻译：大坑 环保酵素（星航传媒专职翻译）
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翻译稿
Gamesbeat(以下简称GB)：看起来你们现在特别忙。
Hilmar Petursson (以下简称HP)：【微微一笑】对，我们现在正在对这个复杂流程进行收尾工作。
Gamesbeat：是什么促成了这笔交易？
Petursson：去年我们在公司的策略上进行了重大调整，也就是我们决定停止目前的VR开发项目，这个决定是基于我们对已安装设备的资产和对未来趋势的评估。然后，我们针对这个策略对公司经行了重组。 我们决定将重心转移到PC游戏和移动游戏上来。在那之后，我们将我们新的战略提上日程（我实在是找不到什么好词儿来说了）。我们聘请了一个韩国团队来与我们的开发团队合作，来和大家一起讨论新战略终将要面对的任务。除此之外我们还在两家公司的过去和未来发展上发现了许多共同点。合作中，我们了解到了Pearl Abyss（以下简称PA）团队过去的成就和对未来的规划。我们在各自的背景，文化和DNA中看到了合作的优势。虽然一个冰岛公司和一个韩国公司的合作优势可能在表面上看不出来，但是我们两家真的有很多共通之处。在共同努力的过程中，我们都得到了一个结论——这是改变CCP的最好时机，也就是不再被现有股东所拥有，并加入PA并成为他的一份子。
GamesBeat：一些想法是如何改变的？您是否需要资金用于您想要做的特定项目？这是寻找合作伙伴的一些推动力吗？
Petursson：我们正在考虑我们的预算。我们有很多的现金储备。我们银行里有大约4000万美元。但正如他们所说，筹款的最佳时机是你不需要用它们的时候。（笑）这是这样做的推动力，也只是为了获得各种人的反馈。我们想了解当今市场真正引起共鸣的是什么。资金和研发需求这两个原因使我们更加迫切需要一个合作伙伴。
GamesBeat：听起来VR对你来说是一个前景光明的方向。你对那次经历的评价是什么？虽然它似乎没有真正危及公司。这虽然令人失望的，但并不是那么糟糕。
Petursson：不，这是一种对风险的计算。在这项业务中，您必须承担一些风险。总体而言，与市场规模相比，它的表现非常好。当所有成本都被计算在内时，我们通过直接的玩家购买和与平台持有者的合作①，在我们所参加的四场展会中赚了大约300万美元。我不会说这是一个非常糟糕的结果。但是，一款好的游戏需要几年的时间通过市场证明。我们决定不进行新的开发，但我们将继续保持现有的游戏。总之，我们随后将会继续挑战自我。考虑到市场规模，它至今仍然卖得很好。现如今我们只想更多地关注PC和移动设备。从那时起，我们又宣布了两个移动游戏。我们还讨论了在EVE宇宙的世界观中开发第一人称射击游戏Project Nova的点子，还正在伦敦开发一个新的动作MMO游戏。
（①：应该是氪金和G胖的绿卡吧。译者注。）
GamesBeat：看起来你已经把很多东西都加倍了，而不是拆分出来。手机端对你来说是一种挑战，也许吧。所以 你会如何描述这一点？
Petursson：当然，过去10年我们一直关注移动设备。我现在说移动市场偏爱更有深度，更硬核的游戏，所以，我们现在仔细研究一下是有道理的。这就是我们开始开发手机游戏的原因。EVE手游已经处于测试过程中。该游戏的KPI看起来异常强大，我们对于做出一款好的移动端游戏感到自信。
GamesBeat：当你观察全球游戏业务时，同一家亚洲公司正在做这样的交易并不让我感到惊讶。这是否是未来的一部分？因为现在，财力雄厚的公司经常出现在亚洲。
Petursson：这是很多因素共同造成的。在CCP，我们一直关注韩国和中国市场 ——最初更多的是朝向韩国——当涉及到将游戏服务和在线游戏运营时的时候。网游行业的这两项技术基本上诞生于韩国，并在韩国达到了巨大的规模。谈到趋势，今天韩国的愿景可能在五年后就会在全球得到实现。
例如，当我们考虑将EVE免费化时，这种模式当时已经非常成熟。它在西方完全扎根之前已经在韩国存在了好几年了。如果你看看韩国的手机游戏，它们会更前卫，更像是我们在西方所知的3A大作或Xbox游戏。比如你在手机上看到Black Desert Online这样的游戏，你会觉得它看起来很神奇。你不会相信这只是一个移动游戏。因此，我们总是关注韩国，最近也观察中国，正在猜测其他地方将会发展出什么样的新花样。
GamesBeat：这笔交易有什么特别复杂的地方吗？好像花了很长时间。
Petursson：有些方面确实很复杂。这就是为什么我们很晚才接到这个通知。 [笑]这是一项涉及两家巨大公司的跨国交易。很多律师一直致力于此。不管怎么说，这只是完成这类事情的一般流程程。考虑到管辖区域的数量之多和整个事物的规模之大，我不认为这是非常奇怪的的。当然，我们需要一个庞大的顾问团队来完成这项工作。
GamesBeat：我还没有在新闻稿中看到收购价。你可以告诉我们吗？
Petursson：好的，购买价格为4.25亿美元。这是定金和尾款的总和。
GamesBeat：你们最后一次获得投资是什么时候？或者你们曾经寻求外部资金援助吗？
Petursson：我们上次在2015年与NEA谈论资金合作。这是我们开拓VR领域计划的一部分。
GamesBeat：Pearl Abyss买下了一切，对吗？百分之百的公司股权？
Petursson：是的。他们购买了100％的CCP股权。
GamesBeat：嗯，恭喜。这对你们来说听起来像个好的归宿。
Petursson：我们非常兴奋。就像我刚开始说的那样，我们发现两家公司之间存在很多共同点。如果你想要制作一款硬核MMO，CCP的经验会对它很大的影响。
GamesBeat：Eve Online上的用户基数在哪里？
Petursson：EVE自从开始免费游玩以来一直保持着自己的地位。付费方式的变更对我们来说是一次非常成功的举动。现在我们主要关注中国服务器的再次发行。当然，我们预计之后仍然会有大量更新。我们仍然在新伊甸看到很多机会。这是一个惊人的15年。我们现在正在为Eve Online的第四个五年制定计划。虽然这听起来绝对很疯狂，但它无论从哪个方面考虑都是有意义的。
GamesBeat：我们仍然看到一些大战正在进行中。
Petursson：是的，今年夏天在EVE 历史中创下了纪录。EVE有史以来最大规模的战斗发生在今年一月，但整个夏天我们都有多场会战。玩家们投入了了史无前例的超期数量，对我们来说，这是一个非常激动人心的夏天。我们确保所有服务器都正常运行，让他们应对正在发生的战争。我们正在加强我们的服务器。
GamesBeat：游戏是否仍然吸引成千上万的玩家？
Petursson：是的。 活跃玩家数量有点波动，但是有200,000到300,000人
GamesBeat：这么大规模的用户群有很多活动吧。
Petursson：是的，无论你在哪里，EVE玩家的活动都令人印象深刻。
GamesBeat：还有，你希望你们的玩家了解这笔交易吗？
Petursson：我们认为这是我们公司的下一个自然发展阶段。在过去的13年里，我们已经获得过投资。也有很多与其他MMO开发者合作的机会。总而言之，我认为我们将拥有更多的经验和资源，可以进一步完善EVE Online。我希望我们的21项行动也将使Pearl Abyss受益。他们正处于一个和我们之前十分相似的发展阶段。我希望我们的一些经验能够帮助他们走得更远。
原文
GamesBeat: It sounds like you’re pretty busy over there.
Hilmar Petursson: [Laughs] Yeah, we’re in the final stretch of a very complicated operation.
GamesBeat: What motivated you in doing the deal?
Petursson: We made a pretty big change in terms of strategy last year, where we decided to stop doing further VR development for now, considering our assessment of the installed base and how it was going to track going forward. We restructured the company around that. We decided to focus more on core PC games and core mobile games.
Subsequent to that, we decided to take our new strategy on the road, for lack of a better word. We engaged a Korean group in collaboration with our developers as strategic ambassadors, to talk to people about joining the mission of the new strategy. Out of that process we found a lot of resonance and interest in the changes we were making and what we were planning up ahead.
As we went through that process, we got to know the team over at Pearl Abyss, what they’ve been up to and what they’re planning in the future. We saw a lot of synergies between our plans and their plans, our mutual backgrounds and culture and DNA. It might not be an obvious synergy, an Iceland company and our Korean company, but we found we have a lot in common. As we worked together, we came to the conclusion that this would be a good moment to make the change for CCP, to stop being a company owned by our current investors, and instead join Pearl Abyss and become a part of that.
GamesBeat: How did some of the thinking change? Did you need money for particular projects that you wanted to do? Was that some of the impetus for going outside?
Petursson: We’re covering our development budgets. We have very good cash reserves. We have about $40 million in the bank. But as they say, the best time to raise money is when you don’t need it. That was kind of the impetus behind doing this. Also just to get feedback from the various people who we talked to throughout the process. We wanted to learn what really resonates with the market today. It was those two things combined.
GamesBeat: It sounds like VR was costly in some ways for you. What was your assessment of that experience? It didn’t really endanger the company, it seems like. It was a disappointment, but not that bad.
Petursson: No, it was a kind of calculated risk. In this business you have to take some risks. Overall, it did very well compared to the market size. When all the chips are counted we made about $3 million out of the four games we did, through a combination of direct consumer revenue and co-development with the platform holders. I wouldn’t call that a very bad outcome. But the market is going to need a few years to justify more bets along the lines of game investments at the scale we like to do.
We’ve decided not to do new development, but we’re going to keep our current games in operation. We’ve done well subsequently. We’re still selling quite well given the market size. We just want to focus more on PC and mobile. Since then we’ve announced two more mobile titles: War of Ascension and Project Galaxy. We also have discussed development of a first-person shooter in the Eve universe, Project Nova, and we’re working on a new action MMO in London.
GamesBeat: You’re doubling down on a lot of things, as opposed to branching out, it seems. Mobile is a kind of branch for you, maybe? How would you characterize that?
Petursson: Certainly we’ve kept an eye on mobile for the past 10 years. I’d say now the market for mobile is turning more toward deeper, more hardcore games. It makes sense for us to take a closer look at that now. That’s why we’ve started mobile game development. Eve: War of Ascension is already in a soft launch process. The KPIs for that game are looking extraordinarily strong. We feel confident in the decision that this is the time for us to take a closer look at mobile.
GamesBeat: When you look at the global games business, it doesn’t surprise me that an Asian company is doing a deal like this. Does it feel like that’s part of the future? Financially strong companies are quite often in Asia now.
Petursson: It’s a combination of a lot of things. At CCP we’ve always looked toward Korea and China — initially more toward Korea — when it comes to the concept of running games as services and online games in general. That part of the industry was basically born in Korea, and reached enormous scale in Korea. When it comes to trends, the outlook in Korea today might be a reality worldwide five years later.
For example, when we were looking at taking Eve free-to-play, that model was already very well-established in Korea. It was a number of years before it fully took root in the west. If you look at the mobile games that are played in Korea, they’re much deeper, much more like triple-A PC or console games that we know in the west. If you look at something like Black Desert Online on mobile, the game looks amazing. You wouldn’t believe it was a mobile title. So we’ve always looked to Korea, and more recently China, when it comes to guesstimating what’s going to be a reality elsewhere five years from now. That’s one aspect.
Another aspect is that the Asian markets — particularly in China, Korea, and Japan – value gaming companies quite highly. If you look at the multiples in those markets compared to markets in the west, there’s a deeper, more ingrained gaming culture, and a deeper understanding of the role of games in the future. And of course we have a lot of global powerhouses stepping into the arena from Korea, China, and Japan, more so than ever. The companies in that area are leading. It’s really not a surprise to hear that we’re partnering with a Korean company.
GamesBeat: Where are you as far as number of employees now? Are you planning to grow, or to do more development in Asia in the future?
Petursson: We have 250, 260 employees. We’re not necessarily looking to expand a lot as a consequence of this move. We have some open positions on our website and we’re hiring into existing projects, particularly in our London studio, but there are no big expansion plans as a part of this. Of course, as we move through the coming months and years and we build our partnership with Pearl Abyss, who knows where we’ll take it? There just aren’t any immediate plans to make any changes on that front.
GamesBeat: You also have a studio in Shanghai as well?
Petursson: Yes, we have a studio in Shanghai, which right now is focused on the re-release of Eve Online in China. We announced earlier this month that Eve Online is going to be re-released together with NetEase in China. It’s a very big project for us, and the Shanghai team is very much focused on that.
GamesBeat: Was there anything particularly complicated about this deal? It seems to have taken a while.,
Petursson: There are definitely aspects that are complicated. It’s why we’re having this call pretty late. [laughs] It’s a very large international, cross-border transaction involving two very big companies. An army of lawyers has been working on it. It’s just the process of getting something like this done. I don’t think it’s anything very unusual, given the number of jurisdictions and the size of the whole thing. It’s certainly been a good amount of work involving a very big team of advisers to get us to this point.
GamesBeat: I didn’t see a purchase price in the press release yet. Do you have one you can announce?
Petursson: Yes, the purchase price is $425 million. That’s a combination of an up-front payment and an earnout arrangement.
GamesBeat: When was the last time you guys raised money? Or did you ever seek outside funding like that?
Petursson: The last time we raised money in 2015, with NEA. It was part of our push into VR.
GamesBeat: And Pearl Abyss is buying everything, right? 100 percent of the company?
Petursson: Yes. They’re buying 100 percent of CCP.
GamesBeat: Well, congratulations. It sounds like a good home for you guys.
Petursson: We’re very excited. Like I said at the beginning, we found a lot of synergies between the two companies. If you make hardcore MMOs your company is very much shaped by that.
GamesBeat: Where are you as far as number of users on Eve Online?
Petursson: Eve has held its position since the move to free-to-play. It was a very successful move for us. Right now our main focus is on the re-release in China. Of course, we have big updates planned up ahead. We still see a lot of opportunity in Eve. It’s been an amazing 15 years. We’re laying down plans now for a third decade of Eve Online, which sounds like absolute madness when you say it, but it makes all the sense in the world based on how the numbers have been trending.
GamesBeat: We’re still seeing some huge battles going on.
Petursson: Yeah, this summer has been an absolute record in terms of warfare in Eve Online. We had the biggest battle in the history of Eve in January, but throughout the summer we’ve had numerous big engagements. People have been bringing out their super-capitals in numbers we haven’t seen in years. It’s been a very exciting summer for us. We’re making sure all the servers are up and running, getting them to cope with what’s going on. We’re reinforcing that plan.
GamesBeat: Is the game still well into the hundreds of thousands of players?
Petursson: Yes. The MAU fluctuates a bit, but it’s 200,000 to 300,000 people.
GamesBeat: There’s a lot of activity for a user base of that size.
Petursson: Yeah, the activity among Eve players is impressive across the board, no matter where you look.
GamesBeat: Is there anything else in particular that you’d like your community to know about the deal?
Petursson: We look at this as the next natural step for us as a company. We’ve had some of our investors on board for the past 13 years. There’s a lot of opportunity in joining up with another MMO developer. Together, I think we’ll have a much deeper bench of experience and resources to pull from, to even further strengthen Eve Online. I hope our 21 of operations will benefit Pearl Abyss as well. They’re on a journey we’re very familiar with. I hope that some of our experience will help them as they move through their stages of growth.
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