PUBG maker Krafton, Nvidia partner on AI game characters

Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang discussed their collaboration on AI and gaming technologies.

The meeting occurred on April 10, 2025 at Nvidia’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

The executives explored potential cooperation areas, including innovations in game development through agentic AI and the application of embodied AI in robotics.

Agentic AI refers to systems capable of making autonomous decisions. Meanwhile, embodied AI involves systems interacting with the physical world.

Krafton emphasized its partnership with Nvidia, which has led to the development of a co-playable character (CPC) using Nvidia’s ACE AI solution.

CPCs, powered by small on-device language models, were first introduced at CES 2025. They are designed to offer dynamic interactions in video games.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Gaming’s AI market surge positions Krafton-Nvidia partnership strategically

The Krafton-Nvidia collaboration comes amid explosive growth in the gaming AI market, which is projected to expand by $27.47 billion from 2025 to 2029, at a remarkable CAGR of 42.3%1.

This partnership represents a broader industry shift, with 70% of game studios already using AI and 88% planning to adopt it further, particularly among smaller studios seeking competitive advantages2.

The co-playable character (CPC) technology they’re developing directly addresses one of gaming’s most valuable AI applications, creating intelligent NPCs that exhibit lifelike behaviors and decision-making capabilities that enhance player engagement3.

Games with AI-driven interactions have demonstrated a 20% increase in player retention, validating the business case for Krafton’s integration of CPCs into major franchises like PUBG4.

By establishing what they call a “benchmark for the gaming industry,” Krafton and Nvidia are positioning themselves at the forefront of an intensely competitive space where major players, including Electronic Arts, Google, and Microsoft, are all vying for dominance1.

2️⃣ The agentic-embodied AI connection bridges virtual gaming and physical robotics

The meeting’s focus on both agentic AI for games and robotics with embodied AI highlights a significant convergence between virtual and physical AI applications.