Eve Online focus back to Europe for CCP

Eve Online developer CCP is to focus resources away from America towards Europe, company CMO Magnus Bergsson said today at the Nordic Game event in Malmö, Sweden.

"It's not that we're going to pull out of America, it's just that we need to even it out more. Today we have half of our user-base in Europe and half in the US: it's almost completely equal," said Bergsson.

"So it makes sense that we should spend half of our marketing dollars and focus on Europe, and half on the US. But during the last 12 months it's been more like 80 per cent on the US and 20 per cent on Europe."

Bergsson's comments came following the recent launch of the German version of the space-faring MMO, which has now also been released in China.

"We are now looking at which languages to add next," Bergsson said. "Also very important are payment options."

"In Iceland and the US, everyone has a credit card, but in Europe it's just not like that," he detailed.

"In Germany, Direct Debit is the biggest one, and we're adding that in approximately two weeks. We'll be adding a lot more payment options very shortly."

CCP has now started marketing Eve Online in Germany, and is bullish about its localisation strategy.

"It's so important to localise versions," said Bergsson. "People want to play in their own language."

The Nordic Game event concludes tomorrow.