In some ways, Pétursson actually believes that what CCP does - managing the hundred-thousands-strong world of EVE - was another leg up on dealing with the financial crisis. While the economic downturn hadn't yet affected the in-game markets (and probably wouldn't ever) since the two were entirely decoupled from one another, an economy was an economy. In having to manage their own micro-economy in EVE , CCP employees had a "key sense of what's going on in the world" as the financial system struggled to adjust. In fact, Pétursson said that they'd seen various analogies between the situation in Iceland and situations that they'd seen in the game - and that they had PhD-holding economists on the team who could see clear parallels between the real world and the virtual world of EVE as far as the economy was concerned.
It was clear that Pétursson was confident that CCP and EVE would weather the storm, and that the economic crash would result in few subscribers calling it quits. However, while their data showed existing subscribers playing more often, I asked Pétursson whether or not he believed that EVE could actually gain subscribers: could the game end up growing during the downturn, or would it just not shrink? Pétursson does think that the game will gain subscribers - provided that CCP does what it's supposed to do. "Our challenge is to explain the value of EVE to people who haven't heard about it, to people who don't know about it," he answered. "It's not the easiest game to explain, but we're getting better at it."
"We stand a good chance at getting more people to play the game," continued Pétursson, since more people are "looking for an escape to life as it stands today." After all, "during an economic downturn, entertainment rises." Though he hated to draw the parallel, he pointed to the Great Depression, where hard times resulted in the growth of Hollywood.
Though the days ahead would likely be rough for the CCP family, the short-term was their focus right now, said Pétursson when asked about how the crisis might affect the development of the new expansion Quantum Rise (as well as long-term initiatives like walking around in stations). "The natural tendency for all companies is to focus on their core business when the economy is weakening," he explained, and they were no exception. "CCP is laser-focused on the short-term and mid-term development processes."
This focus on the short-term naturally meant that long-term projects and ideas would be reduced in priority, which Pétursson noted was simply common sense in a situation like this; it was a move that any smart company would implement to stand strong during an economic downturn. With a chuckle, though, he said that the benefit was that EVE would only get "more awesome," and that people "will be surprised what we release in the upcoming months - but you have to come to Fanfest!" (Incidentally, we will be going to Fanfest in Reykjavik from November 6 - November 8, so keep an eye out for coverage!)
