Eve Online studio CCP rebrands to Fenris Creations as Google takes minority stake

• Fenris Creations has undergone a management buyout from Pearl Abyss valued at $120 million.
• Google has invested in the studio as it explores AI partnership.
• No layoffs or office closures are expected, company claims.

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Google has taken a minority stake in the developer of Eve Online as CCP rebrands to Fenris Creations.

The studio, which was previously owned by South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss, has undergone a management buyout valued at $120 million.

As part of the deal, the developer is now rebranding and will be governed by its own board of directors. It hopes to return to a model it says is similar to how the company operated before 2018 when it was previously acquired.

The ownership group includes Fenris Creations’ senior management and long-term investors.

Google investment

Following the management buyout, the studio has signed a research partnership with Google’s AI division DeepMind, focused on advancing understanding of intelligence in complex, dynamic systems. As part of the deal, Google has invested in the studio and taken a minority stake. Terms were not disclosed.

Fenris said the collaboration would explore areas including “long-horizon planning, memory and continued learning” using Eve Online. DeepMind will work with an offline version of the game to test and evaluate models, while the partnership will also explore new gameplay experiences.

Despite the changes and investment, Fenris claimed the leadership team, studios, products and ongoing development plans remain unchanged. No layoffs are expected, it added.

Fenris Creations said it ended 2025 with a record-breaking month in November and the second-highest revenue quarter in the game’s history in Q4. It reported over $70 million in revenue in 2025 and is said to be profitable.

New structure

“Eve is built to endure – and it only works if you’re willing to keep pushing into the future,” said Fenris Creations CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson.

“This transition gives us direct ownership, clear accountability, and the independence to invest in worlds that grow over decades.

“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.”

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis commented:  “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. 

“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.”