REYKJAVIK, Iceland – In a move that surprised absolutely no one who has been watching the slow-motion trainwreck of Korean gaming conglomerate Pearl Abyss’s finances, CCP Games announced this week that it has officially spun off to become Fenris Creations, an independent entity operating under a new Norse mythology theme and promising that EVE Online will continue for, quote, “decades to come.”
The rebranded company joins a prestigious list of gaming studios that have discovered the secret to longevity: becoming independent from anything resembling a functional parent company. Pearl Abyss, facing declining Black Desert Online numbers and a share price that has performed roughly as well as a C1 mastik riding an express elevator to the bottom of the ocean, confirmed it will focus on its core titles while CCP goes its own way.
“We’re thrilled to return to independence,” said a CCP spokesperson who, sources confirm, read the entire announcement from a script containing the phrase “EVE Forever” fourteen times. “When we chose the name Fenris Creations, we wanted something that symbolized both our Norse heritage and our commitment to building virtual universes where players can experience consequence, loss, and renewal. Also our legal team said ‘Fenris’ was available as a trademark.”
The announcement, posted under the pseudonym “Hilmar” as is tradition, went on to explain that the name Fenris was inspired by the Norse wolf god of destruction, which industry analysts have noted is either a subtle commentary on the game’s player retention rates or simply the only mythological creature from their 1997 startup era that wasn’t already taken.
“Our very first published game carried the name Fenris on the box,” the statement continued, failing to mention that game was called “Fenris” and bore approximately zero resemblance to the spaceships-and-drama simulator that EVE would eventually become. “That belief was there from the beginning. Our very first published game carried the name Fenris on the box.” Sources confirm this is the third time in corporate history the company has referenced this fact.
What This Means For Pilots
According to the announcement, absolutely nothing will change. The teams building EVE Online, EVE Frontier, EVE Vanguard, and EVE Galaxy Conquest remain in place. Studios in Reykjavik, London, and Shanghai continue as they are today. Leadership, creative direction, products, and development plans are unchanged.
“EVE continues,” the statement read, which players have noted is technically accurate and also the bare minimum one might expect from a company that makes its primary revenue from selling subscription time and digital spaceship decorations.
“The people who have been working on New Eden for many years are still here, still building, and still focused on the same goal: making EVE stronger for the long term,” the announcement added, declining to specify what “stronger” means in a game where the primary activities are shooting spaceships, losing spaceships, and occasionally shooting spaceships you own.
Player Reaction
Response from the EVE Online community has been mixed, with pilots on r/EVE speculating whether this means the long-rumored “EVE 2” might finally arrive, or if this is simply a restructuring designed to make the quarterly earnings report look more appealing to investors who have never actually played the game.
“Finally they’re free from the Korean overlords,” wrote one pilot in local chat, apparently forgetting that Pearl Abyss’s primary contribution to CCP was leaving them alone to operate while periodically sending emails asking why the MAU hadn’t increased.
“EVE Forever,” replied another, in what has become the official meme of the announcement. “Yeah okay but my Titan is still stuck in Geminate so maybe fix that first.”
A third pilot was seen in Jita local expressing concern that Fenris Creations would have to develop its own Chinese mobile game to stay profitable, before being reminded that EVE Galaxy Conquest already exists and has been quietly absorbing hundreds of dollars from players who just wanted more ship skins.
Fenris Creations is expected to announce further details at Fanfest, scheduled for sometime in the near future, where attendees will learn about new ships, better tools, “beefier tech,” and “a clearer path for new players.” Sources within the company say there will be a slide with the words “EVE Forever” on it, followed by a two-hour presentation about player retention metrics that will make everyone in the audience uncomfortable.
The company’s legal team has reportedly already filed trademarks for the phrases “EVE Forever,” “Death Is A Serious Matter,” and “New Eden,” the latter of which is expected to take approximately eighteen months given the massive backlog at the Icelandic trademark office.
r/Eve Reactions
oiler99: “Finally. Now maybe we can get some actual patches instead of a new SKIN bundle every Tuesday.”
Isogen_4: “EVE Forever until the servers shut down Forever”
Brutor_Rifter: “they literally just changed their name so hilmar could feel like he accomplished something this quarter. the gameplay is the exact same”
ZappBrannigan: “Pearl Abyss was literally just letting them do their thing for 8 years and this is how they repay them. Classic.
CCP_Salesman: “we are thrilled to announce fenris creations. EVE FOREVER. please buy plex”
Aldradic: “the only thing that changed is the logo. same devs, same bugs, same 3 ships getting nerfed every patch”
Posted to r/EVE by [deleted] – 47 upvotes – 89 comments
