Corporate entities, historically, are not very long-living.
By being 30 years old, CCP is old by company standards.
As we talk, his fixation on persistence and artefact becomes clear.
Though, hes never hidden it.
Petursson has discovered a company that uses cow stem cells to 3D print calfskin.
It would sit alongside an ancient calfskin copy of the Icelandic sagas.
It stuck because Petursson had been worrying about the future of EVE.
I felt a responsibility, he says.
We are running the database that stores the persistent state of EVE Online.
As he says, video game studios close all the time.
What blockchain offered was a way of untying EVE from CCP.
The nature of the technology is that its a distributed system with no single central owner.
[Blockchains] live through the power of participants, Petursson says.
I think people can well understand that a decentralised system is more fault tolerant than a centralised one.
DARPA designed the internet to be decentralised, to be fault tolerant in the case of nuclear war.
And, [they were the] smartest people in the world with an endless budget.
It became obvious we should go figure this out, Petursson says.
We’re not taking funds from EVE players to subsidise this effort; we’ve ring-fenced it.
It’s a whole new game, separate from EVE, he says.
CCP is no stranger to player creativity.
We have a partner programme where people can get a licence to do for-profit activity, Petursson says.
And this is all a patchwork we’ve added to as the years have gone on.
EVE isnt unique in this.
Look at any game at scale today; there’s a lot of business around it, Petursson says.
This is not a bad way per se, but it’s not super innovative.
He wants to use Bitcoins smart contract system so creators earn as soon as a player uses their contribution.
Petursson describes Project Awakening as an ecosystem more like a nation that has its own currency than a shopfront.
Is Project Awakening doing anything CCP cant achieve with current technology?
No, Petursson says.
you’re free to usually use old technology to do most things, Petursson continues.
People didn’t need the jet engine to make aeroplanes.
You could still have propellers, and it would work fine.
But aeroplanes with a jet engine are more powerful.
People always say this, like Do we need cars?
Yes, I can do whatever with databases.
And I can do it in Assembly.
Why do we need C++ or Python?
Why do we need AI?
Why do we need all these things?
I can cobble together a Frankensteins monster of various technologies.
Sure, I’ve done it a bit.
I’ve been doing software for 30 years.
Peturssons right when he says people hate blockchain.
A recentreport on DappGamblfound that 95% of NFTs are now completely worthless.
This is partly why Petursson is keen to stress that Project Awakening and its funding are separate from EVE.
However, blockchains track record has not swayed Petursson: People do stupid things with everything.
Like in the 1700s in Holland, people made [speculative] bubbles with tulips.
The tulips are not to blame.
People are to blame.
People do stupid shit with new things all the time.
It’s just what we do.
I just don’t care how bad people have used [blockchain] in the past.
If people hate me for something they’re assuming I’m going to do that I’m not doing.
Not my problem; it’s their problem.
And, he is,as he will admit, a stubborn man.
After all, CCP has been steadfastly trying to make a successful shooter for fifteen years.
Talking about his blockchain vision, he says If it takes a few decades to get this right…
I mean, the sooner you start, the sooner you’re done.
This is the germ that drives, Petursson says.
Whether it’s blood on calfskin or a blockchain these things must not be forgotten.
