Nvidia and Crafton unveils a groundbreaking on-device AI that enables smarter AI characters for PUBG and inZoi.

The companies built a Small Language Model (SLM) designed for video games. This technology will first be introduced in the PUBG franchise, which has sold more than 80 million copies, and the upcoming life simulator, inZOI.

The AI ​​language model is on-device, meaning it stays on your local computer and isn’t linked to the cloud. For gaming, this language model will bring an unprecedented level of immersion to games, creating for the first time Co-Playable Characters (CPC), which will improve the traditional role of a Non-Playable Character ( NPC), said Kang-Wook Lee, head of Krafton’s deep learning division, in an interview with GamesBeat during CES 2025.

In a video, Krafton shows how an NPC can help bring a human player to victory in a battle royale game. You can see in that video included in this story how the NPC can dance and talk to the player, and help with tactics as the pair hopes to win a chicken dinner against other people. Lee thinks this innovation is the kind of thing that will help PUBG grow its audience, given that the game is eight years old.

Why It Matters

Krafton said CPCs can communicate naturally and verbally with players and each other, opening up experiences never before possible. This technology represents a significant leap in immersive gaming and redefines the role of AI in future entertainment.

How it came to life especially in the PUBG Franchise and inZOI:

PUBG franchise: CPCs will introduce a new SLM powered companion that can verbally communicate and cooperate with the player. Players can converse and strategize with their CPC-powered AI companion just like a human companion, greatly enhancing gameplay.

inZOI: Players experience a simulation where they explore not just their character’s life, but everyone’s life in a full-scale simulation, where citizens, known as “Zois,” interact and make choices based their freedom of choice and real life experiences. time. Zois will follow fashion trends, spread rumors, develop reputations and more, powered by SLM.

Critically, this technology runs 100% locally on a user’s device, without the need to communicate with a data center, improving data privacy, responsiveness, and eliminating the need for payments to subscription.

ZOI video game trailer description

In inZOI, each of the city’s 300 characters (called ‘Zois’) are driven by approximately 600 different mental data points, which form the foundation of the Realistic Life Simulation (RLS) experience. in the game. While traditional rule-based systems may produce different results, they ultimately fail to effectively utilize Zoi’s characteristics to generate context-appropriate behaviors.

To address this, Krafton introduced ‘Smart Zoi’ using an on-device language model, which makes Zois more dynamic by incorporating characteristics such as age, personality, and current situations. This enables them to not only perform calculated tasks but also adapt their behavior when faced with unexpected scenarios, just like real people.

At the end of each day, a Zoi analyzes their experiences, shapes their actions for the next day and promotes continuous growth into a truly unique and personal character. This dynamic interplay develops a lively diverse city, filled with unexpected events that create a deep simulation experience.

“We want to build something very different from NPCs. Why do we call it CPC? Because it’s a character that you can build yourself. The first example is PUBG CPC,” said Lee.

In PUBG, you can play in a duo, competing against other human players to become the sole survivor in a PUBG match.

“It’s based on the whole language model, the text model, the text-to-speech model, all together basically figuring out what they need to hear,” Lee said. “There are many things you can do. For example, you may have some strategic descriptions. Hey, I want to play a different way. Each action sequence is performed by inference in the language model. At the end of the day, you can think about what will happen the next day. Planning is also done through language model inferences and so on.”

Krafton has a team of about 80 people working on developing technology for AI characters. It’s a little crude in some ways, but the character actually behaves like a human player. Players can take technology and create their characters.

“Of course, they are not 100% natural people yet, but this is the first AI character where you can hear the answers within 1.5 seconds,” said Lee.

Lee said he is an optimist about AI in games.

“I’m sure AI will change almost everything we do for years,” he said. “For the gaming industry and players, I am very optimistic about this. I see 2025 as the biggest year in the world of AI, and I would say that InZOI will be a critical milestone in gaming.

InZOI, the life simulation game, was launched in March. Lee said Krafton also uses AI tools to speed up its manufacturing process.

Lee previously thought that smart NPCs would appear in games by 2024. But it looks like 2025 will be the big year for that.

“Some of the AI ​​models are perfect. Every time they make a small mistake, even one in a million times, someone gets hurt. But for AI for gaming, our species is not at risk. If this characters make mistakes, it’s funny,” Lee said. “They make silly jokes sometimes and they say random things. But they’re fun.”