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

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.”