Google DeepMind partners with EVE Online for AI model testing
Google DeepMind partners with EVE Online for AI model testing
Google DeepMind 与《EVE Online》达成合作，共同进行 AI 模型测试
Google’s AI-focused DeepMind division has taken a minority stake in the developer of popular sci-fi simulation EVE Online, saying it will use the game to study “intelligence in complex, dynamic, player-driven systems.” 谷歌旗下的 AI 部门 DeepMind 已购入热门科幻模拟游戏《EVE Online》开发商的少数股权。DeepMind 表示，将利用这款游戏来研究“复杂、动态且由玩家驱动的系统中的智能”。
The research partnership comes as the management behind EVE Online developer CCP Games announced that they have spent $120 million to buy themselves out from their former owners at South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss (Crimson Desert). The newly independent entity is being rebranded as Fenris Creations, which will continue to operate as normal without any restructuring or layoffs, the company said. 此次研究合作达成之际，《EVE Online》开发商 CCP Games 的管理层宣布，他们已斥资 1.2 亿美元从前东家——韩国发行商 Pearl Abyss（《红色沙漠》开发商）手中完成回购。这家新独立的实体已更名为 Fenris Creations，公司表示将继续正常运营，不会进行任何重组或裁员。
“Something that already behaves like a living world”
“一个表现得如同真实世界般的系统”
In today’s announcement, Fenris and DeepMind said that EVE Online presents “a uniquely rich environment for study,” especially when it comes to developing AI systems that use “long-horizon planning, memory, and continual learning.” DeepMind says it will conduct controlled experiments on its models in a specially designed offline version of the game running on a local server, without directly impacting the experience for online players. The two companies “will also explore new gameplay experiences enabled by these technologies,” they wrote. 在今天的公告中，Fenris 和 DeepMind 表示，《EVE Online》提供了一个“极其丰富的研究环境”，特别是在开发需要“长远规划、记忆和持续学习”的 AI 系统方面。DeepMind 表示，将在本地服务器上运行的特殊离线版游戏中对其模型进行受控实验，而不会直接影响在线玩家的游戏体验。两家公司还写道，他们“将共同探索由这些技术带来的全新游戏体验”。
Google DeepMind has a long history of using games as a proving ground for machine learning models, from enabling breakthroughs in complex board games like Go to outperforming humans in Atari VCS games and StarCraft, for example. More recently, the company has begun using so-called “virtual world” models to help AI systems learn to operate in physical reality. Google DeepMind 长期以来一直将游戏作为机器学习模型的试验场，从在围棋等复杂棋类游戏中取得突破，到在 Atari VCS 游戏和《星际争霸》中超越人类玩家，皆是如此。最近，该公司开始利用所谓的“虚拟世界”模型，帮助 AI 系统学习如何在物理现实中运作。
Fenris CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said in an open letter addressed to players that “EVE is one of the few environments where questions about intelligence can be explored inside something that already behaves like a living world.” Studying EVE will allow Google DeepMind’s models to explore “difficult problems, long timelines [and] strange possibilities,” he added. Fenris 首席执行官 Hilmar Veigar Pétursson 在给玩家的一封公开信中表示：“《EVE》是少数几个能够在一个表现得如同真实世界般的系统中，探索智能问题的环境之一。”他补充说，研究《EVE》将使 Google DeepMind 的模型能够探索“难题、漫长的时间线以及各种奇特的可能性”。
“As a gamer and games producer, I’ve long admired EVE,” Google DeepMind Director Alexandre Moufarek said in a statement. “What the EVE community has created together with [Pétursson] and team is truly unparalleled in gaming. It is a one-of-a-kind simulation for testing general-purpose artificial intelligence in a safe sandbox environment. I’m excited to partner with the team at Fenris Creations to push the frontier of artificial intelligence and explore new player experiences.” “作为一名玩家和游戏制作人，我一直很钦佩《EVE》，”Google DeepMind 总监 Alexandre Moufarek 在声明中表示。“《EVE》社区与 [Pétursson] 及其团队共同创造的成果在游戏界是独一无二的。这是一个在安全沙盒环境中测试通用人工智能的绝佳模拟平台。我很高兴能与 Fenris Creations 团队合作，共同推动人工智能的前沿发展，并探索全新的玩家体验。”
Breaking free
重获自由
The newly independent Fenris Creations said that “differences in operating context, current strategic focus, and long-term priorities” were among the reasons for the joint decision to part ways with Pearl Abyss, which purchased CCP Games in 2018. A Pearl Abyss spokesperson told Inven Global that “we concluded that selling the company to its current management is in the best interest of both parties’ futures.” 新独立的 Fenris Creations 表示，“运营环境、当前战略重点和长期优先事项的差异”是双方决定与 Pearl Abyss 分道扬镳的原因之一（Pearl Abyss 于 2018 年收购了 CCP Games）。Pearl Abyss 的一位发言人告诉 Inven Global：“我们认为，将公司出售给其现任管理层最符合双方未来的利益。”
Pearl Abyss paid $225 million for the EVE Online maker just six years ago, meaning the recent $120 million sale represents a significant decline in value for the company. The EVE Online player base has maintained a robust and balanced in-game economy for decades now, complete with its own examples of corporate intrigue, economic panics, and political subterfuge. But developer Fenris/CCP has faced financial struggles in recent years, with annual losses nearing $20 million in both 2023 and 2024. Pearl Abyss 六年前收购《EVE Online》开发商时支付了 2.25 亿美元，这意味着最近 1.2 亿美元的出售价格代表该公司估值出现了大幅下滑。《EVE Online》的玩家群体几十年来一直维持着一个稳健且平衡的游戏内经济系统，其中充满了企业阴谋、经济恐慌和政治权谋。但开发商 Fenris/CCP 近年来面临财务困境，2023 年和 2024 年的年度亏损均接近 2000 万美元。
Fenris/CCP said those losses were attributable in part to costly development work on blockchain-based spinoff EVE Frontier, which saw an alpha test launch last year, and extraction-shooter spinoff EVE Vanguard, which is planned for release later this year. But Fenris Creations said this week that the company was profitable in 2025 on $70 million in revenue and maintains “strong reserves.” Fenris/CCP 表示，这些亏损部分归因于基于区块链的衍生游戏《EVE Frontier》（去年进行了 Alpha 测试）以及计划于今年晚些时候发布的撤离类射击衍生游戏《EVE Vanguard》的高昂开发成本。但 Fenris Creations 本周表示，公司在 2025 年已实现盈利，营收达到 7000 万美元，并保持着“雄厚的储备金”。
Now that it’s free from Pearl Abyss, Fenris says it will be able to make long-term strategic decisions similar to those it made before its 2018 purchase. Fenris CEO Pétursson added that internal control of the company will “giv[e] us a more direct structure for the kind of far-reaching decisions that EVE requires.” 现在摆脱了 Pearl Abyss 的束缚，Fenris 表示将能够做出类似于 2018 年被收购前那样的长期战略决策。Fenris 首席执行官 Pétursson 补充说，对公司的内部控制将“为《EVE》所需要的深远决策提供更直接的架构”。
The company’s “EVE Forever” philosophy is more than just a slogan to be rolled out at the annual Fanfest convention in Iceland, he continued. “It is a way of thinking about every decision we make. What does New Eden need in order to endure? What does the company need in order to support it? What kind of structure gives us the patience and resources to keep building this universe properly?” 他继续说道，公司的“EVE Forever”（EVE 永恒）理念不仅仅是在冰岛年度 Fanfest 大会上喊出的口号。“这是我们思考每一个决策的方式。新伊甸（New Eden）需要什么才能长存？公司需要什么来支持它？什么样的结构能赋予我们耐心和资源，去持续完善这个宇宙？”