Economy Might Force EVE Online Dev. Out of Iceland

Ever-worsening economic conditions may force EVE Online and World of Darkness MMO developer CCP to relocate its main operations outside of Iceland.

"The present currency restrictions are putting us in a straitjacket," CCP's Eyjolfur Gudmundsson told The Guardian. "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."

Iceland has been hit particularly hard by the recent credit crisis, as the country's currency, the krona, has plummeted in value. This has caused foreign debts to significantly increase, with the government recently taking control of the nation's three biggest banks.

At present, Iceland's unemployment rate is sitting at at 5.4%, according to IcelandReview. At this time last year, the unemployment rate sat at a mere 0.8%.

Perhaps forunately, CCP's base of operations in Reykjavik, Iceland is not its only office. In October 2007, CCP opened a branch in Atlanta, Georgia dedicated to producing game content, while the Iceland office was tasked with the technical end of things.