On Wednesday, Google DeepMind announced a partnership with CCP Games, acquiring a minority stake in the Icelandic studio known for the enduring massively multiplayer space game Eve Online. The collaboration aims to examine artificial intelligence behavior within intricate, player-driven virtual worlds.
DeepMind revealed that its investment in CCP is valued at several million dollars, as reported by Bloomberg. This development coincides with CCP’s transition to independence and rebranding as Fenris Creations after separating from publisher Pearl Abyss. Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, the founder and CEO of Fenris Creations, highlighted that this new setup allows for continuous evolution of a living universe and exploration of its potential over an extended period.
“We’re thankful to Pearl Abyss for their partnership and unwavering support over the past 7.5 years,” said Pétursson in a statement. “The existence of Eve Online today is due to pioneering thinking, patience, and trust between developers and players.”
Fenris Creations announced its collaboration with Google on Wednesday, noting that more details will be shared at the upcoming annual Eve Fanfest in Reykjavik next week.
“I have known Hilmar for many years and greatly admire his work,” said Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind. “I’m excited to partner with him and Fenris Creations’ exceptional team to explore new gaming experiences and advance AI research safely within a complex player-driven universe like Eve Online.”
Fenris disclosed that the experiments will occur on offline, controlled versions of the Eve Online universe, separate from Tranquility, the live server.
“This is a unique simulation for testing general-purpose artificial intelligence in a secure sandbox setting,” stated Alexandre Moufarek, Google DeepMind’s director of inception. “I’m thrilled to work with Fenris Creations’ team to push AI boundaries and explore new player experiences.”
Eve Online, launched in 2003, features an emergent player universe with markets, political alliances, and large-scale wars driven by players. In 2024, the studio introduced Eve Frontier, a separate on-chain space survival MMO initially running on Redstone, an Ethereum layer-2 network, before migrating to the Suif layer-1 network for its mainnet launch. It remains uncertain if DeepMind’s research will extend to the on-chain environment of Eve Frontier or focus solely on AI interactions within Eve Online.
Fenris closed 2025 with some of its strongest financial results in the game’s history, including a record-breaking November and one of its best quarters ever. “New Eden thrives because you keep it alive,” the company acknowledged. “This transition was possible largely due to your support. Your belief and backing continue to drive us forward as we build the most impressive virtual world in gaming alongside you.”