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Krafton breaks the gaming mold with smart NPCs in Nvidia collaboration

Published: 09 Jan. 2025, 17:22

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

Lee Kang-wook, head of Krafton's Deep Learning Division, speaks during Nvidia’s showcase held at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday. [KRAFTON]

Krafton is excited to see what its “groundbreaking character concept” powered by a lightweight AI model will do for its titles.

The head of the Korean game publisher’s Deep Learning Division, Lee Kang-wook, shared insights into the Co-Playable Character (CPC) developed with Nvidia powered by the U.S. chip giant’s on-device small language model, Ace, that allows autonomous in-game avatars to “perceive, plan and act like human players.”

Showcasing the technology at CES 2025 at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Lee said the company “will continue to innovate user experiences by integrating CPC into games and aim to establish it as a benchmark for the gaming industry,” Lee said.

"Our collaboration with Nvidia is a testament to the transformative potential of AI in gaming, and we plan to work closely together to push the boundaries of what is possible."

Lee Kang-wook, head of Krafton's Deep Learning Division, speaks during Nvidia’s showcase held at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday. [KRAFTON]

That collaboration led to the technology Krafton demonstrated with its "Ally" non-playable character (NPC) in its Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) franchise and its single-player title inZOI, currently in development, with demo stations allowing CES attendees to give it a try.

The PUBG Ally can be your smart teammate in multiplayer games, responding to your voice commands and helping you become the winner of the chicken dinner.

In the life-simulation game inZOI, the NPCs in the game were replaced by Smart Zoi, powered by CPC. Smart Zoi is equipped with “distinct personality traits and emotional depth” and is able to interact with the player and the game world, improving on the conventional scripted NPCs of the past.

Nvidia Ace will also be used by Chinese game developer NetEase in its Naraka battle royale game, Wemade’s upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Mir 5 and Survios’s virtual reality game Alien: Rogue Incursion amongst others.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]