Google DeepMind partners with EVE Online for AI model testing

Google DeepMind is investing in Fenris Creations, the newly independent developer behind the sci-fi MMO EVE Online, to study artificial intelligence in a “complex, dynamic, player-driven system.” The partnership will allow DeepMind to run controlled experiments on its AI models in a specially designed offline version of EVE, testing long-horizon planning, memory, and continual learning—capabilities essential for general-purpose AI. Fenris CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson called EVE “one of the few environments where questions about intelligence can be explored inside something that already behaves like a living world.” DeepMind, which has a history of using games like StarCraft and Go to advance AI, aims to push frontier research without impacting live players.

Fenris Creations became independent after its management spent $120 million to buy the company back from South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss, which had acquired CCP Games in 2018 for $225 million. The studio cited “differences in operating context, current strategic focus, and long-term priorities” as reasons for the split. Fenris says it is now profitable on $70 million in revenue in 2025, recovering from recent losses tied to blockchain spinoff EVE Frontier and extraction-shooter EVE Vanguard. The company plans to continue its “EVE Forever” philosophy, making long-term decisions for the game’s enduring player-driven economy.