An article in the Guardian newspaper documenting the devastation that the current economic crisis has wrought in Iceland includes a mention of the struggles of the online game publisher CCP, which is the parent company of American RPG powerhouse White Wolf Publishing (see “CCP and White Wolf to Merge”).  Iceland was the first casualty and remains most devastated victim of the current worldwide financial crisis, and it provides a frightening picture of what can happen to an economy when its underlying financial structure collapses.

According to the Guardian, restrictions on access to foreign currency and on foreign investment in Iceland are exacerbating the hard times for CCP, which has produced the Eve Online Game, which currently counts 300,000 participants worldwide (more than the entire population of Iceland).  Eyjolfur Gudmundsson, who supervises the Eve Online MMOG, told the Guardian: “To make new games, we need foreign investors.  The present currency restrictions are putting us in a straitjacket. We are in talks with the government, but if we can't let capital in, we might be compelled to leave Iceland, even though this would be against our wishes.”

White Wolf is producing a deluxe board game based on the Eve Online MMOG (see “White Wolf Expands Board Game Line”).  When CCP and White Wolf merged, it was announced that a World of Darkness Online Game based on the popular White Wolf RPG was already in the works, but so far very little information about the project has been released, though CCP CMO Magnus Bergsson was quoted in June of 2007 as saying that a World of Darkness MMOG could be released in 4-5 years.  However, increased competition in online RPG sector and the current financial crisis in Iceland could easily affect the World of Darkness MMOG’s development.