EVE Online's Fractured Skies Is Live as Fenris Creations Starts Its Independent Era
Six months after buying itself back from Pearl Abyss and dropping the CCP name, the EVE studio has shipped its second 'Theatres of War' expansion and opened a paid alpha for EVE Vanguard. Here is what changed, and what Conquests will mean in 2027.
For most of its 23 years, the company behind EVE Online had a name that kept causing confusion: CCP. In May 2026 it finally changed it, along with its owner. This week it shipped the first big expansion of its new life.
EVE Online: Fractured Skies launched on 10 November 2026, the same day EVE Vanguard, the studio's first-person shooter set in the EVE universe, opened a live, round-the-clock paid alpha through the EVE Launcher. Both come from Fenris Creations, the new name of the Reykjavik studio that was founded as CCP Games in 1997 and launched EVE in May 2003.
From CCP to Fenris
On 6 May 2026, the studio announced that it had become independent from Pearl Abyss, the Korean maker of Black Desert, and renamed itself Fenris Creations. Pearl Abyss's regulatory filings put the transaction at $120 million, including cash and non-cash elements. The two companies had worked together since 2018.
The studio stressed that the change was about ownership and governance, not cuts: no layoffs or restructuring were planned, and the studios in Reykjavik, London and Shanghai carry on as before. It reported more than $70 million in revenue for 2025 and said it remains profitable. Its owners are now senior management and long-term investors, with Google taking a minority stake.
That stake came with a research partnership with Google DeepMind. DeepMind will test AI models on an offline EVE Online server, studying long-horizon planning, memory and continual learning in a complex, player-driven world. DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis called games "the perfect training ground for developing and testing AI algorithms." CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said the change gives the company "direct ownership, clear accountability, and the independence" to pursue long-term projects.
What Fractured Skies adds
Fractured Skies is the second of three "Theatres of War" expansions. The first, Cradle of War, launched on 9 June 2026. This one focuses on Factional Warfare, the system where players enlist with one of New Eden's four empires and fight over contested space.
The headline features, according to Fenris:
- Four Military Campaigns, one per empire, open to every player whether or not they have enlisted. Completing objectives unlocks temporary system-wide bonuses from 5 January 2027, and the first empire in each rivalry to finish all four earns command carrier reinforcements.
- Four Navy Attack Battlecruisers: the Naga Navy Issue, Oracle Navy Issue, Talos Navy Issue and Tornado Fleet Issue, including a long-requested missile Naga. They are sold through Factional Warfare loyalty point stores.
- Nine sets of Synchronizer Rigs, covering the four empires and five pirate factions.
- Thirteen free AIR Academy ships for new players, restricted to Exordium, the PvP-free starter region.
- An opt-in first phase of a HUD redesign, refreshed early security missions and new achievements, including secret challenges.
Conquests: wars with a winner
The real point of Fractured Skies is where it leads. A four-way Empire Showdown is planned for January 2027, and Conquests begin in February 2027.
Conquests turn Factional Warfare into seasons with a definitive result. Players earn Conquest Power through a season to unlock advantages before a final siege, in which rival empires attack the enemy's Conquest Engine while defending their own. The winning faction earns a lasting in-game monument honouring its leading corporations and pilots. Creative director Bergur Finnbogason summed it up: "Conquests finally give all of that a decisive outcome."
It is a notable shift. EVE's most famous moments, from the Bloodbath of B-R5RB to the Guiding Hand heist (our feature), happened because players created them. Conquests are the developers deliberately building a stage for that kind of history.
EVE Vanguard joins the war
EVE Vanguard is the other half of the plan. Its paid alpha adds three new maps, High Castle, Vorago and The Vault, a new player journey, expanded weapon progression and the BR-60 Battle Rifle. It is sold separately from EVE's Omega subscription, and a Steam Early Access beta is planned for Q3 2027.
The two games are linked. Completing Vanguard jobs increases combat, mining and exploration sites in EVE Online from November into early 2027, and once Conquests start, Vanguard players can enlist with an empire and add to its Conquest Power.
Why it matters
Fenris is one of the few Western MMO studios that is independent, profitable and still growing a 23-year-old game. With Amazon pulling back from MMO publishing (our report) and other Western MMOs winding down, EVE's "Theatres of War" plan is a rare example of a long-running game being given new structure rather than just maintenance.
What to watch: the January Empire Showdown, the first Conquest siege in February, and whether Vanguard can bring shooter players into New Eden. EVE Online remains free to start on PC with an Alpha clone.