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PUBG Corporation
In 2023, NVIDIA introduced Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE), which made NPCs alive with an AI-powered "brain," allowing players to speak with them freely and receive coherent answers in a simulated environment. Now, the technology is finally reaching real games.
At CES 2025, the company unveiled NVIDIA ACE autonomous game characters "that use AI to perceive, plan, and act like human players."
"Powered by generative AI, ACE will enable living, dynamic game worlds with companions that comprehend and support player goals, and enemies that adapt dynamically to player tactics."
NVIDIA
This is possible thanks to the new ACE small language models (SLMs), which are capable of realistic decision-making "at human-like frequencies." The NPCs can hear audio cues and perceive their environment.
The first games to incorporate the autonomous characters are PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, inZOI, and NARAKA: BLADEPOINT.
BATTLEGROUNDS is introducing Co-Playable Characters (CPC) with PUBG Ally, powered by NVIDIA ACE. They speak in game-related slang, share real-time strategic recommendations, find and share loot, drive vehicles, and fight other human players.
In inZOI, a similar function will be performed by Smart Zoi, promising characters "more reactive and realistic than anything you’ve seen before." Every ZOI in the city will act autonomously, "driven by their life goals and reacting to their environments and the events happening around them, leading to deeper levels of immersion and complex social situations."
As for NARAKA, NetEase will release a local inference AI Teammate feature in March 2025 for the mobile PC version and later for PC.
"AI Teammates powered by NVIDIA ACE can join your party, battling alongside you, finding you specific items that you need, swapping gear, offering suggestions on skills to unlock, and making plays that’ll help you achieve victory."
NVIDIA ACE will also power enemy bosses in other games, like MIR5, and provide partners in Dead Meat, AI People, ZooPunk, Alien: Rogue Incursion, and World of Jade Dynasty.
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