CCP's long in development massively multiplayer title World of Darkness will incorporate an open-world, sandbox style adopted by DayZ and Rust, company CEO Hilmar Petursson told Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
"The core dynamics of being human or vampire haven't changed, but we've certainly been taking inspiration from a lot of recent things," said Pétursson. "For example, DayZ and Rust, which have shown us the power of a sandbox when you bring it into a more recognizable context."
"The creators of those experiences often reference EVE Online as an inspiration for their things. We're now cross-inspired by what we're seeing there. How the absence of all these structured game mechanics - by just allowing these natural interactions to happen - that is something we're definitely incorporating into how we think about World of Darkness."
CCP has kept quiet about its new massively multiplayer game since its initial reveal in 2006. The game, which is based on White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade setting, was brought into full production in 2009; however, The company laid off approximately 15 members of staff last December, in what the company called a "strategic adjustment" in Atlanta.
"The change was due to our evaluation of the game's design and ongoing development needs," read a statement from the studio at the time. "While this was a difficult decision, CCP remains committed to the franchise and our promise to make a compelling, rich and deep World of Darkness experience."
"...when you're still innovating and figuring out how you're game's going to work, a bigger team takes longer to do that." Petursson explained to RPS. "So again, the layoffs were more about focus and creating an environment where teams can be successful with their priorities. That's something we've had to work a lot on as we've grown. We've grown very fast. We were not very well structured for the complicated strategy we've been executing. We've been working a lot on that."
The release of World of Darkness is still years away, executive producer Chris McDonough confirmed last year, stating: "I don't want to do press for three years, I don't want to be Duke Nukem," McDonough said. "I don't want to be that product. That's not us, it's a different process."