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# Here's Four Hours Of A Cow Playing EVE Online
- URL: https://aftermath.site/eve-online-cow/
- Published: 2026-09-02T19:53:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-02T19:53:42.000Z
- Description: Who hasn't at least once looked at their life and said "I feel like a cow trying to play an MMO"?
- Author: Riley MacLeod
- Tags: Video Games, eve online, twitch

I spent several years at Kotaku editing blogs about *EVE Online* by our very knowledgeable contributor [Lee Yancy](https://kotaku.com/author/sarinblackfist?ref=aftermath.site), and I once visited the offices of developer CCP (now [Fenris Creations](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/ccp-changed-its-name-rather-than-pick-a-fight-with-the-chinese-communist-party-which-was-probably-wise/?ref=aftermath.site)) in Reykjavík, but I can’t say I’ve ever really *understood* the back-stabbing space MMO. So when I saw people today talking about a cow playing *EVE*, it made about as much sense to me as anything else I’ve heard about the game.

In the grand tradition of [fish playing *Elden Ring*](https://aftermath.site/pointcrow-tortellini-goldfish-dead-elden-ring-youtube/)and [dogs speedrunning](https://aftermath.site/speedrunning-dog-interview-peanut-butter-agdq/), Fenris put a cow in a field rigged with buttons and got it to do some space mining in *EVE Online*. The idea, according to [GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/you-can-watch-a-cow-play-eve-online-right-now/?ref=aftermath.site), came from a nickname *EVE* players have for a recent update, Cradle of War (“CoW,” you see). The cow itself had the player name FC CapitalCowPilot. The Twitch stream, which ran for about four hours, is over now, but you can [watch the archive on Fenris' Twitch channel](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2863253745?ref=aftermath.site).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-02-at-1.40.59---PM.png)

[Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2863253745?ref=aftermath.site)

The cow (real name Valva) is an eight month old dairy cow. The developers say at the beginning of the stream they needed to get a bigger fence for Valva because she kept escaping, busting through a regular fence and an electric fence and “tackling two people” before the stream started. In-game, Valva led a mining fleet of human players to mine some ore, with the buttons in the field giving Valva the ability to moo, press enter, and do “some fireworks and some other stuff,” according to the developers. During the stream, the cow wandered around in the slow, unmotivated way of cows, while human-controlled ships swarmed around her ship in the game. According to [MMORPG.com](https://www.mmorpg.com/features/i-played-eve-online-with-a-cow-and-it-was-glorious-2000138847?ref=aftermath.site), the human players tried to fight the cow, as well as each other, because this is *EVE* after all. There was a human developer in the pen with the cow encouraging her to move around, but I’ll be honest with you I have no idea what effect any of this had on what happened in the game.

To me, a person who–maybe like many of you–loves to read about the hijinks that go on in *EVE* but will probably never play it myself, the stream was fun just to absorb the vibes: the flashing lights and explosions of a swarm of tiny ships in the vastness of virtual space, chat’s excitement, and the very compelling image of a man and a cow standing in a field under a cloudy Icelandic sky. (Who wouldn’t enjoy a big field to be in right now, instead of in front of whatever screen you’re reading this on?) Toward the end of the stream, the video cut to the developers getting to visit a barn and pet some baby cows, which I, a man who has never pet a cow, imagine is the greatest possible thing a person could get to do with a workday. If you want to know more about what actually happened in the game beyond “cow,” MMORPG has a good play-by-play from an actual *EVE* player.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-02-at-1.53.15---PM.png)

[Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2863253745?ref=aftermath.site)

“\[*EVE Online*\] is a notoriously hard game, but it doesn't have to be!” Fenris wrote in a [tweet](https://x.com/FenrisCreations/status/2095191356075364757?ref=aftermath.site) after the stream. “With the help of a few hundred pilots, and a specialized cow-friendly gaming rig, our new developer here led a fleet which cleared out 3 asteroid fields of ore! If a cow can play *EVE*, what's stopping you?” 

While I didn’t need a reminder that a cow is better than me, who plays video games for work, at *EVE Online*, I think the impenetrability of the stunt is what makes the whole thing compelling. What motivates the cow? What motivates *EVE* players? Is everyone doing a good job? I have no idea. In *EVE*, as in life, everyone involved is moved by their own strange, unique whims (for Fenris, also sharing details about an upcoming *EVE* update), and the best the rest of us can do is just try to keep up.