Google DeepMind Takes Minority Stake in Eve Online Developer, Plans to Use the Game for AI Training
- Sagar Mankar
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Google DeepMind has announced a partnership with the newly rebranded Fenris Creations, the studio behind the long-running space MMO Eve Online, as part of a deal that includes a minority stake investment and plans to use the game for AI research.
The deal is valued at $120 million, according to reports by Bloomberg (via CNET). As part of the agreement, Fenris Creations, formerly known as CCP Games, has regained its independence from South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss, which is also known for the recent fantasy title Crimson Desert.
The studio now operates with its own board of directors. As per the developer's official blog post, this structure is meant to give them "a more direct structure for the kind of far-reaching decisions that Eve requires."
Fenris Creations CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, "This is something I am genuinely excited about" as the studio kicks off its work with DeepMind.
So why Eve Online specifically? The game has been running since 2003 and spans over 7,000 star systems where players trade, fight, and build political alliances. It is a world driven almost entirely by its players, and that is exactly what makes it valuable for AI research. Large-scale battles in the game can last for multiple hours, and the virtual assets involved are sometimes valued at hundreds of thousands of real-world dollars. The weight of those stakes shapes how players think and make decisions, which appears to be a key reason Google finds this particular MMO so compelling.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis spoke directly to this in an official statement. "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," he said. "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."
Hassabis added that the goal is to explore different gaming experiences and "advance AI research safely inside a player-driven universe as amazingly complex as Eve Online." It is worth noting that DeepMind has a history of using games as benchmarks for AI development, with AlphaGo famously defeating Go champion Lee Sedol and AlphaStar reaching Grandmaster rank in StarCraft II.
As per the company blog post, the AI research will initially take place on isolated servers, keeping it separate from the live game to avoid any disruption to the existing player base.
