Sumo Digital Acquires VR Game Developer EVE: Valkyrie

British development studio Sumo Digital has announced that it has acquired the studio behind the game EVE: Valkyrie, CCP Games Newcastle. It appears that Sumo Digital has taken over the studio for their expertise in VR games.

Sumo Digital executive Paul Porter told Uploadvr that his studio is “interested in all platforms of interactive entertainment, including VR.” He declined to say what the acquired Newcastle studio is working on, but Porter said their proven skills and experience in VR would be “a great addition” to Sumo.

Through the take over a total of 34 people from CCP Games will go to Sumo, although they will stay in Newcastle. It is not clear how big the CCP Games team in Newcastle was in total. The Newcastle studio will be Sumo Digital’s fourth office; the studio already has two other teams in the UK and one in India. Sumo Digital is based in Sheffield.

In October, an Icelandic website reported that the Atlanta office would be closed and that the Newcastle office would be sold, but it was not yet clear whether a buyer was available. The studio then confirmed that the focus would be shifting from VR games to the PC and mobile platforms.

CCP Games is an Icelandic studio responsible for the space game EVE Online and VR titles such as EVE Valkyrie, Gunjack and the sports game Sparc. Sumo Digital is responsible for LittleBigPlanet 3 and the upcoming Crackdown 3 and Snake Pass, among others.

For Eve: Valkyrie, a major update called Warzone came out in August. This made it possible to play the game without a VR headset. EVE: Valkyrie was released in March last year for the Oculus Rift and then also appeared for the PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.