Google DeepMind takes stake in EVE Online maker and plans AI tests

In short: Google DeepMind has taken a minority stake in the company behind EVE Online and will use the game to test and study its AI models.

What happened

Google DeepMind, Google’s AI research division, said it has made a minority investment in the developer of the long-running online space game EVE Online. DeepMind says it wants to study how AI behaves in complex worlds where many players make their own decisions.

At the same time, EVE Online’s developer said its management team paid $120 million to buy the studio back from its previous owner, South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss. The studio is now independent and is rebranding as Fenris Creations. The company said it will keep operating normally, with no restructuring or layoffs.

DeepMind and Fenris said the research will use a specially built offline version of EVE Online that runs on a local server. That means the tests should not affect the live online game that real players use. The companies also said they may explore new gameplay ideas that become possible with these AI systems.

Why it matters

Researchers often use games to test AI because games have clear rules and lots of situations to learn from, like a flight simulator for decision-making. EVE Online is known for its complicated player economy and long-term planning, which can make it useful for studying AI skills like memory and planning over long periods. For players, the key thing to watch is whether this stays separate from the live game, and what “new gameplay experiences” might look like in the future.

Source: Arstechnica