EVE Online developer goes independent as Fenris Creations, partners up with Google DeepMind

The EVE Online developers have announced two big bits of news - first, they're independent again now as Fenris Creations but they're also teaming with Google.

Formerly known as CCP Games, it will now be governed by its own Board of Directors, which they say is them returning to how they operated before 2018. So they will remain fully responsible for the likes of EVE Online, EVE Vanguard and EVE Frontier. They said that no restructuring or layoffs are planned, which is rare to see for such a big change in this industry. So that's some good news for all involved.

From the press release sent to GamingOnLinux:

"EVE is built to endure - and it only works if you’re willing to keep pushing into the future. This transition gives us direct ownership, clear accountability, and the independence to invest in worlds that grow over decades," said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of Fenris Creations. "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. EVE Online exists today because of pioneering thinking, patience, and trust between developers and players. Our new structure and partners enable us to carry that legacy forward - continuously evolving a living universe and actively exploring what it can become, with forever in mind."

Here comes the AI train though! Fenris Creations at the same time announced a partnership with Google DeepMind, Google's AI research lab. The PR noted this relationship involves helping to advance the "understanding of intelligence in complex, dynamic systems" to explore "areas including long-horizon planning, memory, and continual learning, using EVE Online as a uniquely rich environment for study".

Google DeepMind will be using an offline version of EVE Online to test and evaluate models in a controlled setting. And, as part of the deal, Google invested directly in Fenris Creations taking a minority stake in the company.

“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. 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,” said Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO Google DeepMind. “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.”