Fenris Creations Reclaims Independence and Rebrands from CCP Games to Lead EVE Online and Partner with Google DeepMind for Future Artificial Intelligence Development
CCP Games Reclaims Independence and Rebrands as Fenris CreationsThe developer responsible for EVE Online has officially returned to independent ownership and is now operating under the name Fenris Creations. The transition from the Pearl Abyss subsidiary relationship which began when Pearl Abyss acquired the studio in 2018 has reached its conclusion after 8 years. The corporate announcement states that the developer will establish direct operations through shareholder governance which enables its Board of Directors to control all significant decisions about its virtual world business.
The name Fenris Creations serves as a reference to the company history in 1997 when the word appeared on the box of its first published title. The organization maintained its existing structure following the rebranding process. The company confirmed that no layoffs or internal restructurings are planned and the existing studios in Reykjavik London and Shanghai will continue their operations without interruption. The game development team will continue their current direction for ongoing projects which include EVE Online EVE Frontier EVE Vanguard and EVE Galaxy Conquest.
The studio has reached financial independence during a period of strong financial performance. Fenris Creations reported that the final quarter of 2025 was one of the strongest in the 20 year history of the brand with record breaking results in November. The company maintains its profitable status while it possesses adequate funds to support the ongoing vitality of its gaming universe. Fenris Creations and Pearl Abyss came to an agreement which established that independent ownership served as the best solution for both companies while Pearl Abyss concentrated on its core intellectual property.
The developer will maintain its operational base in Vatnsmýrin Iceland. Management stated that this transition serves as a business decision which establishes the base for development work that will extend for multiple decades. The studio plans to discuss the technical and creative roadmap for the EVE universe in greater detail at the Fanfest 2026 event scheduled for next week.
Fenris Creations has established a research partnership with Google DeepMind as part of its new chapter. The collaboration will focus on studying artificial intelligence within complex and dynamic player driven systems. EVE Online operates as a living world because it has its own economy and politics which make it the perfect domain to test general purpose intelligence under controlled conditions. The Director of Google DeepMind Alexandre Moufarek made a statement about the projects possibilities.
As a gamer and games producer I have long admired EVE. The EVE community has created a unique experience with the team that no other gaming community can match. The system provides a unique testing ground for evaluating general purpose artificial intelligence within a secure testing framework. The team at Fenris Creations will work together with me to develop artificial intelligence systems which will create new gaming experiences for players.
Initial research will take place in offline versions of the game that are not connected to the live Tranquility server. The experiments need to stay in a secure sandbox which prevents any effect on player interactions. Adrian Bolton from the Google DeepMind founding team will join the studio leadership on stage at Fanfest 2026 to discuss the blueprint for this AI research and how it might influence future player interactions. The studio considers this research as an extended study of how virtual spaces support both problem solving capabilities and learning processes.
