adminThe Fenris Creations rebrand marks a new chapter for the studio behind Eve Online. After separating from South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss, the company has explained why it moved on from the CCP Games name, how a partnership with Google DeepMind fits its plans, and what players can expect from its Eve projects.
Image credit: Fenris Creations
Why Fenris Creations became independent
CCP had been considering a return to independence for two or three years, according to CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson. Pearl Abyss acquired the Icelandic developer in 2018, with both companies initially anticipating opportunities to work together. Over time, however, their priorities diverged: Pearl Abyss concentrated on Crimson Desert, while CCP focused on Eve Online, Eve Frontier and Vanguard.
Pétursson says the companies eventually concluded that operating separately made more sense. They parted on friendly terms and could still work together in the future if their schedules and goals align. For players, the practical point is that Fenris can now make decisions as an independent studio while continuing to develop its Eve games.
The financial terms also differed from the 2018 acquisition. Pearl Abyss paid $225 million in cash, with a further $200 million tied to performance. In the buyout that returned the studio to independence, the valuation was $120 million: $100 million in cash and $20 million in cryptocurrency. Fenris Creations confirmed that the cryptocurrency was $EVE, an in-game utility token associated with Eve Frontier and intended to support its game ecosystem.
Pétursson attributed the difference in valuations to changing market conditions, rather than presenting it as a direct measure of either company’s prospects. Game-company valuations in 2018 were different from those at the time of the buyout.
What the Fenris Creations rebrand means
The studio has operated under the CCP Games name for almost 29 years, but the abbreviation increasingly caused confusion in English-speaking contexts. Pétursson says CCP could be mistaken for the Chinese Communist Party. Employees travelling to the United States had faced questions about the name, and news reports had described the company as “the other CCP.”
Rather than continue to deal with that association, the studio chose a new identity while making other organisational changes. The timing also mattered: Pétursson said the company considered it a good opportunity to change the name as it became independent again.
Why choose Fenris?
The name has both historical and cultural connections. In 1998, CCP published a board game called Hættuspil, or Danger Game, under the Fenris name. Fenris is also linked to Norse mythology: Fenrir is a wolf associated with Ragnarok, the apocalypse.
Pétursson connected the name’s themes of destruction and creation to Eve Online, where ships can be destroyed as part of the game’s central experience. The reference reflects the studio’s interest in the relationship between endings and new beginnings. For readers and players, the name change is a corporate rebrand; the studio says it does not mean it is leaving the Eve universe behind.
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson
Google DeepMind and artificial intelligence
Alongside the rebrand, Fenris announced an investment from Google’s AI-focused DeepMind division and a research partnership. Pétursson sees the collaboration as a continuation of DeepMind’s work with games, including chess, Go and StarCraft. He described Eve Online as a particularly complex environment for exploring what artificial intelligence could mean.
Fenris already uses AI tools extensively in code-related work, and Pétursson said AI has also become part of the infrastructure surrounding Eve Online. He expects the technology to affect the industry whether or not individual studios embrace it. The partnership gives Fenris an opportunity to examine its implications alongside a specialist research organisation.
For players, the announcement is about research and collaboration; it does not by itself confirm a specific AI feature or release in an Eve game. As the work develops, it will be useful to distinguish research plans from features that the studio has formally announced for players.
Eve Online remains the studio’s main focus
Fenris says Eve Online will remain central to its plans. The long-running space MMO is 23 years old, and the studio is balancing improvements for established players with a more welcoming experience for newcomers. Its work includes maintaining core systems, adding content and improving the ways players can shape activity within the game.
The company is also planning a three-year expansion arc focused on Theatres of War. Pétursson said this will include improvements to warfare mechanics, the ways victory conditions are defined and how clearly players can understand the front lines. These areas offer practical signs of what the planned expansion is intended to address, though individual features may be detailed later.
Eve Frontier and the role of blockchain
Eve Frontier is a survival-focused MMO set in a more hostile part of the Eve universe. Its design includes player development that can affect the game world, as well as systems intended to address botting and automation. It also has a cryptocurrency element, which Pétursson said is intended to remove some of Eve Online’s currency controls.
Fenris has continued working on the project despite broader changes in the games industry’s interest in blockchain. Pétursson’s view is that the technology itself is neutral and that its impact depends on how it is used. Players assessing the project should focus on its specific mechanics and economy, rather than assuming that the presence of blockchain alone defines the experience.
Vanguard aims to connect two game experiences
Another project in development is Vanguard, a shooter intended to connect with Eve Online. The concept follows Dust 514, a 2013 shooter that also aimed to let players influence a shared universe. Dust 514 was discontinued in 2016, but the idea of linking shooter activity with the wider Eve setting has continued.
Pétursson says actions in Vanguard are intended to affect the theatre of war in Eve Online, allowing two different types of game to influence the same universe. Fenris has also taken lessons from Dust 514: the studio says Vanguard is PC-first and that it has built a shooter team in London to focus on the feel and mechanics of combat.
The studio’s ambitions for the next five years include developing the shared-universe concept and expanding open modding and the open economy in Eve Frontier. Those goals are substantial, and Fenris has not suggested that they are already complete. They outline the direction the company wants to pursue as it builds on the Eve series.
What comes next for Fenris Creations?
The Fenris Creations rebrand reflects a change in ownership structure and a desire for a name that avoids confusion, while the studio’s near-term priorities remain rooted in Eve. Its plans span ongoing improvements to Eve Online, the survival-focused Eve Frontier and the connected shooter Vanguard. The Google DeepMind partnership adds a research dimension, but specific player-facing outcomes remain to be seen.
For players, the most useful way to follow the transition is to watch for concrete updates to each game: new-player improvements and warfare plans for Eve Online, details about Frontier’s systems, and progress on Vanguard’s combat and shared-universe features. Fenris’s new name signals a fresh corporate chapter, while its stated ambitions continue to centre on the Eve universe.
Image credit: Fenris Creations
