Netmarble Doubles Workforce, Committed to AI Research...

Expansion of AI Center
20% of Revenue Invested in R&D
Kim Donghyun, AI Center Director: "Developing AI That Plays with People"

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] "Monica, start the quest." In Netmarble's mobile game ‘A3: Still Alive,’ gameplay that previously required smartphone touch or input can now be done solely by voice. This is because Netmarble applied the voice artificial intelligence (AI) technology ‘Monica.’ This year, the AI technology competition among Korea's three major game companies, the 3N (Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble), is intensifying. In particular, Netmarble has put its life on AI technology research. By expanding dedicated research teams and making large-scale investments, it is focusing on developing ‘intelligent AI’ applicable to games.

Doubling AI Workforce

Netmarble plans to expand the scale of its AI Center starting this year. Kim Donghyun, head of Netmarble AI Center (pictured), stated in an interview with Asia Economy on the 9th, "We will increase the workforce to more than double the current level." To secure talent, Netmarble also raised all employees' annual salaries by 8 million KRW this year. Although the exact size of the Netmarble AI Center workforce is undisclosed, it is estimated to be in the 100s.

Netmarble began AI research in 2014 and officially launched the AI Center in 2018 to actively engage in research. The Netmarble AI Center consists of two teams: the ‘Magellan Room’ and the ‘Columbus Room.’ Kim explained, "The names Magellan and Columbus embody our determination to pioneer new paths in the AI domain." Netmarble is also pouring massive funds into AI research. Last year, it invested 383.1 billion KRW in research and development (R&D) costs up to the third quarter. When annualized, this amounts to approximately 510.8 billion KRW, accounting for 20.6% of its revenue.

Netmarble applies AI research across various areas of gaming. Using AI technology, it has built a detection system that identifies bugs and errors occurring in games, which has been applied to most games. Netmarble analyzes user tendencies and patterns by utilizing big data collected from games through AI technology. For example, AI makes ‘customized item recommendations.’ Kim said, "As AI technology advances, we are realizing things that were previously unimaginable," adding, "A representative example is AI providing appropriate difficulty levels tailored to user skill or executing ‘battle skills’ to keep users engaged and tense."

AI Determines Game Competitiveness

Netmarble's entry into AI research is based on the judgment that it will be an essential technology for long-term service innovation. Bang Junhyuk, chairman of Netmarble and Coway, emphasizes to employees the philosophy that ‘future games will be intelligent games with advanced AI.’ Kim said, "In this context, our goal is to develop intelligent AI that plays alongside humans." Netmarble focuses on creating intelligent games through the ‘Magellan Project.’ The AI player learns user patterns to provide factors that enhance enjoyment. Kim added, "We will continue to offer customized AI services based on user analysis."

The AI business also has high growth potential. According to Korea IDC, the domestic AI market size is expected to grow from 300 billion KRW in 2019 at an average annual rate of 17.8%, surpassing 640 billion KRW by 2023. Besides Netmarble, other major domestic game companies such as NCSoft and Nexon are also fully committed to AI development. Kim predicted, "If the quality difference in games before and after AI technology application becomes significant, competition will intensify," adding, "The gaming industry is very fast in adopting AI technology and changes, so an even more dynamic environment will unfold."