In 2006 White Wolf Publishing, the developer of classic role-playing games such as Vampire: The Masquerade, was acquired by CCP Games, the Icelandic video game developer best known for the popular EVE Online MMO. The transaction appeared at first to be an odd marriage, but shortly after the sale CCP began working on an MMO based on White Wolf’s World of Darkness setting.

Today some sad, but not unexpected, news has been revealed to both White Wolf and RPG fans. CCP today announced that the World of Darkness MMO project, after eight years of development, is officially dead.

The game was being developed at CCP’s studio in Atlanta, Georgia. The cancellation of the World of Darkness project means that 56 employees of that Atlanta studio have now been laid off. Everyone remaining at the studio will continue working on projects related to the EVE Online series.

According to a statement released by CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, the studios efforts on the MMO were “falling short” of the game CCP was looking to create. He also stated that CCP hopes to make it up to World of Darkness fans in the future.

Pétursson’s statement, in full:

The decision to end the World of Darkness MMO project is one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make. I have always loved and valued the idea of a sandbox experience set in that universe, and over the years I’ve watched the team passionately strive to make that possible.

I would like to give special thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the World of Darkness MMO a reality, especially the team members affected by this decision. Their considerable contribution to CCP will not be forgotten, and we wish them well.

To our current and former employees and fans of World of Darkness, I am truly sorry that we could not deliver the experience that we aspired to make. We dreamed of a game that would transport you completely into the sweeping fantasy of World of Darkness, but had to admit that our efforts were falling regretfully short. One day I hope we will make it up to you.

Although this was a tough decision that affects our friends and family, uniting the company behind the EVE Universe will put us in a stronger position moving forward, and we are more committed than ever to solidify EVE as the biggest gaming universe in the world.

According to CCP all of its studios are now working exclusively on EVE-related projects. This is the first time since 2006 that this has been the case.

Image via CCP