I'm Back With A Prediction

After three days of spotty to non-existent internet connection, I am back on-line. Between Madison and the local Starbucks, I managed to download an order I placed for some records. After reading the documents, I have a prediction. CCP will probably close an office in the U.K. next month.

Before anyone gets excited, EVE Online is not dying. CCP is not dying either. No one, as far as I know, is even getting laid off. According to the financial reports CCP released over the past few years, the company has a non-negotiable lease for office space in the U.K. expiring next month.

I think everyone by now knows about the home of EVE: Valkyrie, Newcastle. But CCP also has offices in Gateshead, across the river from Newcastle, and Slough, about 20 miles west of central London. The Newcastle office is definitely not closing. Not only is the development of CCP's main virtual reality product occurring on the north bank of the River Tyne, but CCP moved the registered office address of CCP Games UK Ltd. from Slough to Newcastle in April. So that leaves Slough and Gateshead.

UPDATE: I may have goofed on the identification of 3 offices. After looking at a map, I found a Fletcher Road in Newcastle but not in Gateshead. The last office at the bottom of CCP's website is probably meant to read Fletcher Road, Gateshead Quay, Newcastle, not Fletcher Road, Gateshead. If so, then CCP only has two offices in the U.K.

Screenshot of offices on CCPGames.com, 5 June 15

Without having access to any lease information, I think the most likely candidate to close is Slough. First, my understanding is that office space is much more expensive in the London area than in the north of England. Next, CCP did move the registered address of its U.K. subsidiary from Slough to Newcastle. Finally, having all employees working within a few miles of each other is probably more convenient.

I think my theory contains a hole, however. What about the guys working on the servers in the London data center? Don't they need support too? Perhaps getting into a long-term lease isn't attractive if CCP decides to move Tranquility to Amsterdam or another major internet crossroads on the continent. Also, maybe CCP rents office space in the data center already.

At the end of the day, if and how CCP plays musical chairs with the offices in the U.K. doesn't impact the games we play. So if someone breathlessly announces that EVE is dying because an office closed, don't worry. Leases for office space expire all the time. And if CCP renews the lease? Then CCP's financial situation is not as bad as some fear. Or as bad as some haters hope.