High profile departures at Eve Online maker CCP
San Francisco office closing and David Reid going with it.
There are soon to be unexpected and high profile exits at Eve Online maker CCP.
In a financial report (highlighted by Reddit) the company announced plans to close its San Francisco office and, in the same stroke, wave goodbye to chirpy chief marketing officer David Reid and chief financial officer Joe Gallo.
It's part of a plan to "combine and simplify" the business, CCP leader Hilmar Veigar Pétursson briefly explained. "Joe Gallo and David Reid did great work for CCP and I wish them well," he added in a statement translated in email by CCP. "Their contributions to CCP will be remembered, and we look forward to seeing what they do next."
No further explanation was given nor will be for the time being, CCP told me this afternoon.
David Reid joined CCP in 2012 from fellow MMO company Trion, maker of Rift, to help launch online PS3 shooter Dust 514. In his two years at the company he played an increasingly visible role, delivering entertaining speeches at the Eve FanFest and Eve Vegas events, becoming a well liked public figurehead for the community.
With vampire MMO World of Darkness canned, and Dust 514 fading, perhaps Reid's (presumably expensive) talents were no longer needed - and of course he'd have no office to work in, unless he relocated to Atlanta or commuted to Iceland.
Project Legion, effectively Dust 514's PC replacement, has an Eve audience already willing to try it, and Eve Online successfully markets itself. Eve Valkyrie, meanwhile, has the heft of Oculus VR (co-publisher) and a swell of natural excitement behind it.
Joe Gallo had been CFO at CCP for five years.
It's not explicitly clear what the San Francisco office was responsible for, but sales, marketing and PR are likely.
The closure and redundancies fit Pétursson's "combine and simplify" remark; CCP has reinforced - since World of Darkness was canned - the mantra of no longer overreaching and storming new ground, but instead focusing on doing what it already does, better.
Reid's and Gallo's departures follow those of former Eve executive producer Jon Lander, Eve lead designer Kristoffer Touborg, Eve director of security Sean Conover and Eve lead community manager Pete McKay, among others.
