Key Notes
- Fenris Creations has confirmed layoffs on EVE Frontier, without disclosing how many roles are affected.
- The studio says Frontier remains in active development and describes the cuts as specific to the project rather than a wider company restructuring.
- The changes follow its May return to independent ownership, when Fenris said the transition involved no restructuring or layoffs.
Fenris Creations, the EVE Online developer formerly known as CCP Games, has confirmed layoffs on its EVE Frontier team. The studio says the space survival game remains in active development, with the reductions confined to that project.
Employees initially disclosed departures on social media. Vertical Slice subsequently reported the company’s confirmation, which attributes the cuts to a review of Frontier’s priorities, team structure and development plans. Fenris has not disclosed how many people are affected.
EVE Frontier Development Continues
According to the statement supplied to Vertical Slice, Frontier’s leadership proposed the changes to support the game’s longer-term ambitions. Fenris says this is not a company-wide restructuring and has pledged support for affected colleagues.
The studio has not announced a cancellation or specified how the smaller team will affect its release plans. Its explanation identifies a change in how the project is staffed, without detailing which development responsibilities will move or be reduced.
Six Months After Regaining Independence
The cuts follow Fenris’ May 6 announcement that it was separating from Pearl Abyss and adopting its new name. The transaction was valued at $120 million, with ownership passing to a group including senior management and long-term investors.
At that point, Fenris said the ownership transition involved no restructuring or layoffs. Its latest statement describes the subsequent staffing decisions as a response to Frontier’s development needs.
The May announcement also disclosed a minority investment from Google and a research partnership with Google DeepMind. That work involves an offline version of EVE Online, running on a local server, to study areas such as planning, memory and continual learning.
Fenris reported more than $70 million in revenue for 2025 and said it was profitable when the independence deal was announced. Those figures describe its position at the time of the transaction; they are not a financial update accompanying these layoffs.
A Separate Survival Game in the EVE Universe
Frontier is distinct from EVE Online, the long-running spaceship MMO that launched in 2003. Fenris’ game portfolio describes Frontier as a space survival simulation, alongside other projects including the extraction-adventure shooter EVE Vanguard.
Its recent Vestiges update illustrates the scope of that development. Cycle 7 added more freedom of movement in flight, including strafing and rolling, alongside options to separate ship movement from weapon targeting.
The update also introduced a skill system for characters and their Shells, physical docking with infrastructure, and exploration that gradually reveals signatures as players travel. Feral Drones gained the ability to mine, salvage, scavenge and pursue their own objectives while working from incomplete information.
For players following Frontier, the next developer communications will help establish how its plans translate into updates with a smaller team. The company’s confirmation keeps the project in development, while leaving the practical effects of the staffing changes unspecified.
The announcement follows other recent cuts to ongoing projects. We reported on Mob Entertainment’s reduction of its Escape From Playtime team, where the studio likewise said development would continue. Mob disclosed 16 departures; Fenris has not provided an equivalent figure.
