Google DeepMind takes minority stake in EVE Online maker to advance AI model training

Google DeepMind partners with EVE Online for AI model testing

Google's AI-focused DeepMind division has taken a minority stake in the developer of popular sci-fi simulation EVE Online, saying it will use the game to study "intelligence in complex, dynamic, player-driven systems." The research partnership comes as the management behind EVE Online developer CCP Games announced that they have spent $120 million to buy themselves out from their former owners at South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss (Crimson Desert). The newly independent entity is being rebranded as Fenris Creations, which will continue to operate as normal without any restructuring or layoffs, the company said. "Something that already behaves like a living world" In today's announcement, Fenris and DeepMind said that EVE Online presents "a uniquely rich environment for study," especially when it comes to developing AI systems that use "long-horizon planning, memory, and continual learning." DeepMind says it will conduct controlled experiments on its models in a specially designed offline version of the game running on a local server, without directly impacting the experience for online players. The two companies "will also explore new gameplay experiences enabled by these technologies," they wrote. Google DeepMind has a long history of using games as a proving ground for machine learning models, from enabling breakthroughs in complex board games like Go to outperforming humans in Atari VCS games and StarCraft, for example. More recently, the company has begun using so-called "virtual world" models to help AI systems learn to operate in physical reality. Fenris CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said in an open letter addressed to players that "EVE is one of the few environments where questions about intelligence can be explored inside something that already behaves like a living world." Studying EVE will allow Google DeepMind's models to explore "difficult problems, long timelines [and] strange possibilities," he added. "As a gamer and games producer, I've long admired EVE," Google DeepMind Director Alexandre Moufarek said in a statement. "What the EVE community has created together with [Pétursson] and team is truly unparalleled in gaming. It is a one-of-a-kind simulation for testing general-purpose artificial intelligence in a safe sandbox environment. I'm excited to partner with the team at Fenris Creations to push the frontier of artificial intelligence and explore new player experiences." Breaking free The newly independent Fenris Creations said that "differences in operating context, current strategic focus, and long-term priorities" were among the reasons for the joint decision to part ways with Pearl Abyss, which purchased CCP Games in 2018. A Pearl Abyss spokesperson told Inven Global that "we concluded that selling the company to its current management is in the best interest of both parties' futures." Pearl Abyss paid $225 million for the EVE Online maker just six years ago, meaning the recent $120 million sale represents a significant decline in value for the company. The EVE Online player base has maintained a robust and balanced in-game economy for decades now, complete with its own examples of corporate intrigue, economic panics, and political subterfuge. But developer Fenris/CCP has shown some financial struggle in recent years, with annual losses nearing $20 million in both 2023 and 2024. Fenris/CCP said those losses were attributable in part to costly development work on blockchain-based spinoff EVE Frontier, which saw an alpha test launch last year, and extraction-shooter spinoff EVE Vanguard, which is planned for release later this year. But Fenris Creations said this week that the company was profitable in 2025 on $70 million in revenue and maintains "strong reserves." Now that it's free from Pearl Abyss, Fenris says it will be able to make long-term strategic decisions similar to those it made before its 2018 purchase. Fenris CEO Pétursson added that internal control of the company will "giv[e] us a more direct structure for the kind of far-reaching decisions that EVE requires." The company's "EVE Forever" philosophy is more than just a slogan to be rolled out at the annual Fanfest convention in Iceland, he continued. "It is a way of thinking about every decision we make. What does New Eden need in order to endure? What does the company need in order to support it? What kind of structure gives us the patience and resources to keep building this universe properly?"

Google DeepMind Will Train AI Models on the MMORPG Eve Online

Blake has over a decade of experience writing for the web, with a focus on mobile phones, where he covered the smartphone boom of the 2010s and the broader tech scene. When he's not in front of a keyboard, you'll most likely find him playing video games or watching horror movies. A game with more than two decades of virtual space combat, piracy and commerce is apparently fertile ground for training future AI models. Google DeepMind this week announced plans to use the popular roleplaying game Eve Online on Wednesday for training, Bloomberg reports. Eve Online is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, or MMORPG, developed by Iceland's CCP Games. Players explore and interact with each other in a vast universe, forming corporations and taking part in a wide range of activities like mining and space combat. DeepMind is also taking a minority stake in Fenris Creations, the new name for CCP Games that was also announced on Wednesday. Although a minority stake, DeepMind's investment is in the millions of dollars, Fenris Creations CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson told Bloomberg. According to a company blog post, the developer will be independent, with its own board of directors, "giving us a more direct structure for the kind of far-reaching decisions that Eve requires." It had been owned by South Korea's Pearl Abyss, publisher of recent fantasy hit Crimson Desert, but was sold back to its management last week. Eve Online launched 23 years ago and has gained a massive following, so it makes sense that the AI lab has taken an interest in training its models on the game. While it's currently unclear what type of player data Google is parsing through with its AI models, Eve Online is particularly notable for its emergent player-driven narratives and large-scale battles -- many of which last multiple hours and involve virtual assets valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. The game's perceived real-world stakes inform player decision-making, which is perhaps what makes Google so interested in this particular MMO. "Games have always been a huge part of my life -- I've been a gamer since I was a kid, and I started my career designing and programming complex AI simulation games like Theme Park," Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a statement. "They've also been at the heart of many of Google DeepMind's breakthroughs -- like Atari DQN, AlphaGo, AlphaStar and SIMA -- because they're the perfect training ground for developing and testing AI algorithms." Hassabis said the goal is to explore different gaming experiences and "advance AI research safely inside a player-driven universe as amazingly complex as Eve Online." According to the blog post, DeepMind will research player behavior on isolated servers of the game so as to not affect the live game itself. As time goes on, the research will likely expand, and Eve Online will also use the research to improve the game in the future.

Google just bought a stake in the maker of Eve Online to train its AI models - Engadget

The company behind the long-running space sim Eve Online has entered into a partnership with Google in which the search giant will take a minority stake. In exchange, Google's DeepMind will train its AI technology on the game, according to a report by Bloomberg. CCP Games, the dev who made and maintains Eve Online, has also been rebranded as Fenris Creations. This happened just after the company purchased the rights to the game back from Korean developer Pearl Abyss. Google's investment is "in the millions" of dollars, according to Fenris Creations Chief Executive Officer Hilmar Veigar Pétursson. DeepMind is going to first study player behavior on isolated servers, as Eve Online "requires skills that AI has not yet fully mastered." This is according to DeepMind's Adrian Bolton, who mentioned hurdles like "long-term planning and continual learning." Eve Online has been around for over 20 years and is known for giving players an unprecedented amount of choice with how they navigate the game world. This makes it an extremely attractive source of social simulation data for DeepMind's tech to sink its teeth into. "We jokingly say that the final boss for AI in games would obviously be Eve Online," Pétursson said. "Eve is giving insights about our own society and the human condition." Will players get anything out of this collaboration besides having their actions tracked and catalogued by researchers? The companies promise this partnership "will also explore new gameplay experiences enabled by these technologies." That's incredibly vague, but whatever.

Google DeepMind Gets Into Gaming, Purchases Stake in the Company Behind EVE Online

The two companies are partnering to explore new AI-enabled gameplay experiences. AI companies have long used video games to train and test their models, so it’s not a huge surprise that Google DeepMind has now acquired a minority stake in the maker of the popular MMORPG EVE Online. The partnership comes as the studio behind EVE Online announced that it is becoming independent again. Fernris Creations, formerly known as CCP Games, said that it has bought itself back from Korean video game company Pearl Abyss in a deal worth $120 million. EVE Online first launched in 2003 and is known for its sprawling open-world universe, where players can explore more than 7,000 star systems and participate in various in-game activities like mining, piracy, trading, combat, and even politics. Alongside the buyout announcement, the company also revealed a new research partnership with Google DeepMind, in which the AI lab has taken a minority stake in Fernris Creations. “As part of this next chapter, we are beginning a research partnership with Google DeepMind, focused on intelligence in complex, dynamic, player-driven systems. This is something I am genuinely excited about," Fernris Creations CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson wrote in a blog post announcing the partnership. According to a press release, the collaboration will focus on improving the “understanding of intelligence in complex, dynamic systems†and explore areas such as long-horizon planning, memory, and continual learning. In practice, Google DeepMind will test and evaluate AI models on an offline version of EVE Online running on a local server. The companies also said they plan to explore AI-powered gameplay experiences. “I’ve known Hilmar for many years and long admired his work, and I’m thrilled to partner with him and the fantastic team at Fenris Creations to explore new gaming experiences and advance AI research safely inside a player-driven universe as amazingly complex as EVE Online,†Google DeepMind CEO and co-founder Demis Hassabis said in the press release. Hassabis added that video games are the “perfect training ground for developing and testing AI algorithms.†He pointed to some of the lab’s previous breakthroughs, including AlphaGo defeating world champion Lee Sedol in 2016 and AlphaStar reaching “Grandmaster†level in StarCraft II in 2019. Other AI companies have pulled off similar feats. In 2019, an AI built by OpenAI defeated world champions in Defense of the Ancients 2, better known as Dota 2. OpenAI's success with Dota 2 has even resurfaced this week during Elon Musk’s ongoing legal battle with OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. The New York Times reports that after OpenAI President Greg Brockman emailed Musk to inform him that the company’s AI had won an international Dota tournament, Musk replied: “Time to make the next step for OpenAI. This is the triggering event.â€

Google DeepMind is partnering with EVE Online to research 'player-driven systems'

EVE Online has offered gamers a space-centric alternative to MMOs like World of Warcraft for over 20 years. Now, the studio behind the game is looking towards the future of game development, beginning with a new AI-centric partnership with Google's DeepMind. Granted, today's announcement -- which primarily digs into the newly-reinstated independence of EVE's development team -- barely mentions AI, only making one unquoted direct mention of the term in regards to DeepMind's existence. While that certainly shows a hesitance on Fenris Creations' part to fully embrace an increasingly controversial term, AI-powered experiences are certainly what EVE Online players might be able to look forward to in the future. While this partnership is centered in a "research" phase, it's clear this studio sees enough potential Unfortunately, it's difficult to paint a clear picture of what Fenris Creations and Google DeepMind expects to get out of this partnership. The blog post promises a "research program [...] focused on intelligence in complex, dynamic, player-driven systems," and if that doesn't sound enough like it's anxiously awaiting backlash from EVE's audience, here's how this experimentation is described from within the company: To be very clear: this initial research will take place in controlled, offline versions of EVE that are not connected to Tranquility. But it does open a door to work that feels very true to EVE: difficult problems, long timelines, strange possibilities, and people willing to explore what comes next. In other words, while EVE's developers aren't promising an AI-centric future to the game right away, it's something the company expects to be worthwhile enough for the future of this MMO to invest in a partnership utilizing controlled, offline, research-adjacent spaces. Of course, the more cynical read would be that AI-based experiences are coming for the game sometime over the next couple of years -- though I'll leave it to EVE's actual player base to make that determination for themselves. Expect to hear more details on what this research is actually building for at EVE's Fanfest 2026 next week. And considering I/O is just a couple of weeks away now, I wouldn't be shocked to see someone from Fenris Creations on stage, showing off some early work right alongside the DeepMind team. Frankly, it's just a shame Google doesn't have some kind of game streaming service to host whatever's bound to come out of this collaboration.

Google DeepMind Takes Stake in 'Eve Online' Maker, Will Use Game to Test AI Behavior - Decrypt

DeepMind has taken a minority stake in Fenris after it spun out from Pearl Abyss and became an independent studio once more. Google DeepMind said Wednesday that it is teaming up with CCP Games, acquiring a minority stake in the Icelandic studio behind long-running massively multiplayer space game Eve Online, with plans to study how artificial intelligence behaves inside complex, player-driven virtual environments. The investment, which DeepMind told Bloomberg is valued in the millions of dollars, comes as CCP announced that it has become an independent studio, spinning out from publisher Pearl Abyss and rebranding to Fenris Creations. According to founder and CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, the new structure and partners enable the company to continuously evolve "a living universe and actively [explore] what it can become, with forever in mind." "We're grateful to Pearl Abyss for their partnership and for the consistent support they've shown us over the past seven-and-a-half years," Pétursson said in a statement. "Eve Online exists today because of pioneering thinking, patience, and trust between developers and players." Fenris Creations announced the team-up with Google on Wednesday, adding that the two companies plan to share further details at the annual Eve Fanfest in Reykjavik next week. "I've known Hilmar for many years and long admired his work, and I'm thrilled to partner with him and the fantastic team at Fenris Creations to explore new gaming experiences and advance AI research safely inside a player-driven universe as amazingly complex as Eve Online," Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a statement. According to Fenris, the research tests will run on offline, controlled versions of the Eve Online world that are not connected to Tranquility, the live server. "It is a one-of-a-kind simulation for testing general-purpose artificial intelligence in a safe sandbox environment," Alexandre Moufarek, director of inception at Google DeepMind, said in a statement. "I'm excited to partner with the team at Fenris Creations to push the frontier of artificial intelligence and explore new player experiences." Eve Online launched in 2003 and runs a fully emergent player universe that includes markets, political alliances, and large-scale wars generated by player behavior. In 2024, the studio revealed Eve Frontier, a separate on-chain space survival MMO originally running on Redstone, an Ethereum layer-2 network, in 2024. The game has since migrated to layer-1 network Sui for its mainnet launch. It's unclear whether the DeepMind research will extend to Eve Frontier's on-chain environment or remain focused on AI interactions. Fenris says it closed 2025 with some of its strongest financial results in the game's history, including a record November and one of its best quarters on record. "New Eden is alive because you keep making it alive. We were able to make this transition in large part because of you," the company said. "Because you continue to believe in Eve. Because you continue to support us. Because you continue to challenge us. Because, after all these years, you are still building the most impressive virtual world in gaming right alongside us."

CCP Games is no more: EVE Online studio changes its name as it goes independent and enters an AI research partnership with Google DeepMind

An offline version of EVE Online will serve as a testbed for new AI research. Some big changes out of EVE Online developer CCP Games today, including that it is no longer called CCP Games: The studio has parted ways with Crimson Desert maker Pearl Abyss, entered into an AI research partnership with Google DeepMind, and ditched its nearly 30-year-old name, rebranding itself as Fenris Creations. Pearl Abyss acquired CCP -- sorry, Fenris Creations -- in 2018, and frankly I'm not sure what actually came out of that deal in terms of practical results. But after "a joint review of long-term strategy," which included an analysis of "differences in operating context, current strategic focus, and long-term priorities," the companies decided -- after settling on a price tag of $120 million -- to go their own ways. Fenris said the change will only impact its ownership and governance, and that it will continue to operate as it always has, with no changes in personnel or development plans. "The teams building EVE Online, EVE Frontier, EVE Vanguard, and EVE Galaxy Conquest remain in place, and our studios in Reykjavík, London, and Shanghai continue as they are today," still-CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said in a message to the EVE community. "Our leadership, creative direction, products, and development plans are also unchanged. The people who have been working on New Eden for many years are still here, still building, and still focused on the same goal: making EVE stronger for the long term." It's weird to see that historical studio name gone, and it'll no doubt take me ages to get used to the new one. But in terms of far-reaching impact, the much bigger deal here is the new AI research partnership with Google. As part of that deal, which will see Google take a minority stake in Fenris Creations, an offline version of EVE Online will serve as a new training ground for the DeepMind AI, enabling it to "test and evaluate models in a controlled setting." CCP -- sorry, sorry, Fenris Creations -- hasn't been shy about embracing new technologies in the past, including AI, Earlier this year, for instance, it launched an "AI-powered assistance feature" for EVE Online, trained on more than 5.8 million messages posted in EVE's Rookie Help channel, to help ease new players into the notoriously dense game. But aspirations for the DeepMind deal sound loftier: The partnership will "explore new gameplay experiences" enabled by AI technology, but will also focus on more esoteric subject matter, including "long-horizon planning, memory, and continual learning." Pétursson said the deal with Google is a good fit because "EVE is one of the few environments where questions about intelligence can be explored inside something that already behaves like a living world." Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis shared similar thoughts, saying that games have "been at the heart of many of Google DeepMind's breakthroughs -- like Atari DQN, AlphaGo, AlphaStar and SIMA -- because they're the perfect training ground for developing and testing AI algorithms." "I've known Hilmar for many years and long admired his work, and I'm thrilled to partner with him and the fantastic team at Fenris Creations to explore new gaming experiences and advance AI research safely inside a player-driven universe as amazingly complex as EVE Online." Separately from all of this, things are apparently going swimmingly for EVE: Pétursson said 2025 produced some of the game's "strongest results in years, including a record-breaking November and one of the strongest quarters in EVE Online's more than 20-year history." CCP -- ah jeez, you know who I'm talking about -- remains profitable and has amassed "strong reserves" so it can continue investing in the future of EVE. Speaking of which, more on that, including a closer look at the research that will be conducted via the DeepMind partnership, will be shared at EVE Fanfest 2026, which kicks off on May 14.

Eve Online dev CCP Games changes name to Fenris Creations, teams up with Google DeepMind AI

TL;DR: CCP Games regained independence from Pearl Abyss for $120 million, rebranding as Fenris Creations. The studio partnered with Google DeepMind for AI research focused on complex, player-driven systems in offline EVE versions. CCP Games just bought back its independence from Pearl Abyss for $120 million, and now the developer is changing its name and making an ambitious AI partnership. Eve Online developer CCP Games today announced big changes at the company. The group has rebranded to 'Fenris Creations' and has teamed up with Google's DeepMind AI to help build its EVE Forever initiative. Specific details on the partnership and how exactly Google's AI will be used remain vague, however, the studio says that it's primarily research-based, and that all testing will be done in secured, offline versions of EVE. This isn't about funding, as Fenris Creations' CEO Hilmar Veigar explains that the game is still quite lucrative: "the company remains profitable, with strong reserves and the ability to keep investing in the long-term health of New Eden." Veigar goes on to highlight how the DeepMind partnership will work, and how it can affect future content: "As part of this next chapter, we are beginning a research partnership with Google DeepMind, focused on intelligence in complex, dynamic, player-driven systems. This is something I am genuinely excited about. "I have spoken with the people at Google DeepMind about EVE many times over the years, and I will admit I never miss an opportunity to brag about what EVE players have built. And they let me gush because they share a love of games. Projects like AlphaGo and AlphaStar have been foundational in our understanding of intelligence, learning, and problem-solving. "To be very clear: this initial research will take place in controlled, offline versions of EVE that are not connected to Tranquility. But it does open a door to work that feels very true to EVE: difficult problems, long timelines, strange possibilities, and people willing to explore what comes next." "I want to be as upfront as possible in the days ahead. Questions will come up, and we will answer the ones we can." South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss bought CCP Games back in 2018 for $225 million, and the company let go of the EVE Online developer because it was "beneficial for both companies."

Google DeepMind takes stake in 'EVE Online' studio to test AI

Google's DeepMind is partnering with the creators of EVE Online. This collaboration aims to train advanced AI tools using the game's complex simulation. Researchers will test AI models in a safe, offline version of the game. This move signifies a return to independence for CCP Games, now Fenris Creations. Google's AI lab DeepMind has taken a stake in the studio behind the "EVE Online" video game to train its AI tools, the companies announced Wednesday. Launched in 2003, "EVE Online" is a space-based massively-multiplayer role-playing game in which player interactions have a large role in determining the economic and political developments. DeepMind's researchers will at first put their AI models to test in a separate, offline version of the game that is not accessible by players. "It is a one-of-a-kind simulation for testing general-purpose artificial intelligence in a safe sandbox environment," said Alexandre Moufarek, the director of DeepMind research. Playing the game should help DeepMind's AI models to improve their long-term planning and continuous learning skills. The head of the lab, Demis Hassabis, said video games are "the perfect training ground for developing and testing AI algorithms" and had enabled many of DeepMind's breakthroughs. Google's minority stake comes as part of a return to independence for Iceland's CCP Games, which has been held by South Korean game studio Pearl Abyss since 2018. Following the $120 million transaction it rebranded itself as Fenris Creations, and said the deal affects ownership and governance only, with no planned layoffs in Iceland. It added it plans to keep its studios in London and Shanghai as well. It said the company was profitable on more than $70 million in revenue last year, and plans two upcoming EVE-related titles.

EVE Online's Studio Walks Away From Pearl Abyss After Record $70M Year, Reborn as Fenris Creations With Google DeepMind Backing

The new ownership group comprises Fenris Creations' senior management and long-term investors, including Omega Ventures co-founder Birgir Már Ragnarsson, who takes over as Board Chairman. CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson confirmed there will be no layoffs, office closures, or restructuring as part of the transition; he also underlined that EVE Online delivered record revenue in November 2025, its second-highest revenue quarter in history in Q4, and closed the year with over $70 million in reported revenue, some of its best financial results in years. Alongside the independence announcement, today Fenris Creations revealed a new research partnership with Google DeepMind, with Google also taking a minority equity stake in the company. The research focus covers: DeepMind will work with an offline version of EVE Online running on a local server to test and evaluate AI models in a controlled setting, and the partnership will also explore new gameplay experiences enabled by these technologies. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis explicitly tied his interest to his own gaming background and to the lab's history of game-based AI research (Atari DQN, AlphaGo, AlphaStar, SIMA), calling EVE Online "amazingly complex" as a research environment. As a reminder, CCP Games (now Fenris Creations) is currently developing the extraction shooter game EVE Vanguard, which is connected to EVE Online, and the survival spin-off EVE Frontier, in addition to maintaining the long-running EVE Online.