It’s always tough when a development studio loses one of its top people, but today’s news is sure to sting more than usual for both EVE Online players and the developers at CCP Games. We’ve just confirmed that Andie “CCP Seagull” Nordgren will be stepping down from her position as Executive Producer on EVE Online and leaving the company in about two months. Nordgren joined CCP in 2010 as a Technical Producer on the Core Technology Group before eventually spearheading the development direction of EVE as its Senior Producer and finally taking on a broader Executive Producer role in 2014

Nordgren has been well liked by players for her clear vision of the future for EVE and open approach to development, and her interviews at events never fail to get us excited about what’s coming next for EVE. Most recently she has overseen the development of the Citadel, Lifeblood, and upcoming Into The Abyss expansions. CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, who has reportedly been getting more directly involved in EVE‘s development recently, will be helping to transition Nordgren’s roles until a replacement is selected.

We first heard this news as a rumour from a tip and reached out to CCP Games for comment, and it supplied us with the following confirming statement.

“I can confirm that after eight years with CCP, Andie is returning to her native Sweden at the end of June where she is looking forward to raising her children closer to her family. CCP is arranging a seamless transition of Andie’s duties under the oversight of Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CCP’s CEO, until the position is filled.” CCP Games (statement not under embargo)

A farewell forum post on Andie’s departure is due to be posted tomorrow; we’ll update this news post with any new information that comes to light.

Update: Andie Nordgren has just posted her farewell post on the EVE Online forums. It reads: