Krafton Leaders Discuss the Company's AI-Driven Approach

Krafton, the Korean publisher behind popular games like PUBG: Battlegrounds and Inzoi, recently announced its transition to an AI-first company. This shift involves prioritizing AI as the primary means of problem-solving, which will lead to a complete reorganization and a significant investment of 100 billion Korean won ($69.7 million) in a new GPU cluster. In an interview at Gamescom, the directors of PUBG and Inzoi shared their insights on Krafton's AI-driven approach and its potential impact on the gaming industry. Taehyun Kim, director of PUBG: Battlegrounds, explained that Krafton provides PUBG Studios with various AI tools, but the decision to use them is ultimately up to the studio. They utilize AI for code reviews, which helps identify errors, but human oversight is still essential to ensure accuracy. The studio also employs AI to generate concept art, which accelerates the initial development stage. However, the final artwork is created manually, based on the AI-generated concepts. Kim believes that AI has the potential to empower small teams and indie studios, enabling them to innovate and produce games more quickly. In contrast, Inzoi's director, Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim, has fully embraced AI in the development of their life-simulation game. AI has enabled players to mod the game by importing their own assets, which are then converted into 3D objects, poses, and animations. Kjun doesn't think that AI has sped up the development process, but it has provided new tools for creating novel forms of entertainment. The Inzoi team is also experimenting with AI-generated dialogue, which has shown promising results, despite some imperfections. The use of AI in Inzoi has sparked controversy, with some players expressing concerns about the ethics of training data and the potential replacement of human jobs. Kjun addressed these concerns by stating that all AI models in Inzoi are trained on internal data, and he believes that AI tools make developers' jobs easier, allowing them to focus on creative ideas. As the gaming industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Krafton's AI-first approach pays off and whether player attitudes towards AI will shift over time.