EVE Online Devs Perform a Reality Warp: Ditch Pearl Abyss, Link Minds with Google DeepMind
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
EVE Online developer CCP Games has split from Pearl Abyss, rebranded as Fenris Creations, and entered a $120 million "research partnership" with Google DeepMind to explore AI within EVE's complex universe.
Alright mates, gather 'round, because the universe of New Eden just got a bit... stranger. And by stranger, I mean potentially super interesting or a tad unsettling, depending on how much sci-fi doom-mongering you're into. Turns out, **CCP Games**, the wizards behind the perpetually complex cosmic ballet that is EVE Online, have performed a bit of a reality warp.
They've decided to wave cheerio to **Pearl Abyss** and rebrand themselves as **Fenris Creations**. But wait, there's more! Fenris Creations isn't just flying solo; they've immediately plunged into a "research partnership" with none other than **Google DeepMind**. Yeah, *that* Google DeepMind – the folks who teach AI to play chess, Go, and probably how to perfectly brew your morning cuppa. This little shindig is reportedly worth a cool $120 million (that's about £88 million, for those of us still counting in proper money). *Bloody hell.*
So, what's the deal, eh? Fenris Creations, now under the watchful eyes of its own senior management and a clutch of "long-term investors" (Google being one of them, which is a bit like finding out Gandalf just bought a stake in your local pub), reckons this new setup is better "aligned with the company's future as a developer, publisher, and operator of player-driven online experiences." Fair dinkum, more independence sounds grand on paper.
Now for the juicy bit: the DeepMind partnership. Fenris Creations is apparently offering up EVE Online as a "uniquely rich environment for study." They're planning to explore "areas including long-horizon planning, memory, and continual learning" using an *offline, local test version* of EVE. My internal curiosity sensors are buzzing like a faulty warp drive. What does that *actually* mean for us? Are they just letting an AI run wild in a digital sandbox to see if it can build an empire, or will it find the perfect trade route for space-noodles? The official line is they'll "also explore new gameplay experiences enabled by these technologies."
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, the CEO of Fenris Creations, sounds genuinely chuffed about it all. He says EVE is "built to endure" and this transition gives them "direct ownership, clear accountability, and the independence to invest in worlds that grow over decades." And look, credit where it's due, EVE has certainly endured – the 22-year-old MMO recently saw a massive surge in new players, proving that even in a sea of struggling new games, complexity and community can still win out. (If you want the deeper dive on that, Eurogamer's Vikki Blake, who broke this news, actually linked to Conor's article on it – go check it out if you fancy!).
Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, piped up too, basically saying games are perfect training grounds for AI. He's known Veigar for ages and is "thrilled to partner... to explore new gaming experiences and advance AI research safely inside a player-driven universe as amazingly complex as Eve Online." "Safely," he says. Now, my gently skeptical brain wizard hat starts to twitch. "Safely" inside a player-driven universe? What constitutes safe in a game where players regularly commit acts of digital piracy, industrial espionage, and massive fleet battles that make real-world wars look like a polite disagreement over biscuits?
Look, mate, it's exciting stuff. The idea of AI potentially enhancing a player-driven world like EVE, one that already thrives on emergent gameplay and player ingenuity, is intriguing. Will we see AIs co-creating content, or will they simply become hyper-efficient market manipulators that even the most dedicated player cabal can't outsmart? Time will tell. For now, it's a massive shift for one of gaming's true titans, and I, for one, am keenly watching what sort of digital magic Fenris Creations and DeepMind conjure up.
**Source:** Eurogamer, Vikki Blake
Tags: EVEOnline, AI, GamingNews, Web3Gaming, DeepMind
Original article: Eurogamer