Demis Hassabis first conceived the kernel of the idea for Evil Genius before Elixir Studios had started.

This is an autobiographical claim. True: contemporaneous interviews, developer diaries or histories of Elixir Studios (founded 1998) record that Hassabis had the core concept for Evil Genius before Elixir was founded, and nothing credible contradicts this. Mostly true: the idea's early origin is supported, but the timing relative to Elixir's founding is only roughly documented. Mixed: the sources are inconsistent about whether the idea came before or after Elixir began. Mostly false: credible sources show the concept came from someone else or arose after Elixir started, though Hassabis contributed early. False: documented evidence shows Evil Genius was conceived after Elixir's founding, or by others with no involvement from Hassabis at the concept stage.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Interview with an Evil Genius Eurogamer · 4 October 2004

   “The concept I've had in mind for years really, since leaving Bullfrog. Basically, at university, while I was actually on a rare holiday in Thailand on a really beautiful tropical island, that suddenly made me think about how it would be quite cool to actually be the Bond villain.”

2. E2 Interview with an Evil Genius Eurogamer · 4 October 2004

   “Evil Genius fitted the bill. So I dusted it off, we fleshed out the design, and then basically got a very talented team onto that”

3. E3 A conversation with Demis Hassabis, the Bullfrog AI prodigy now finding solutions to the world's big problems PCGamesN · 15 July 2016

   “so when Hassabis formed Elixir Studios in 1998 he took all that he'd learned and been allowed to experiment with in the company of Molyneux et al and built upon it.”

4. E4 A conversation with Demis Hassabis, the Bullfrog AI prodigy now finding solutions to the world's big problems PCGamesN · 15 July 2016

   “studying the computer science tripos and obtaining a double first from Cambridge in between genre-defining Bullfrog titles.”

5. E5 Elixir Studios - Wikipedia Wikipedia · 30 April 2005 Own record

   “The company was founded on 7 July 1998[1] by Demis Hassabis, formerly a prominent figure at Lionhead Studios.”

6. E6 Interviews (Page 47) Eurogamer · 28 February 2005

   “We talk to Demis Hassabis about Evil Genius - his involvement, project goals, plans for multiplayer add-ons and console ports, and a great deal more besides. Muahaha!”

In a contemporaneous 2004 Eurogamer interview, Hassabis said the Evil Genius concept came to him at university, after he left Bullfrog, and was later "dusted off" at Elixir (E1, E2). PCGamesN independently confirms that he studied at Cambridge between Bullfrog titles and founded Elixir Studios in 1998 (E3, E4). This puts the university-era idea before Elixir's founding. The origin of the idea comes only from Hassabis's own account, and the timing is dated only roughly, through his university years rather than a specific date, so the claim is mostly true rather than fully confirmed.