Krafton Holds 'Dark and Darker Mobile' Technology Workshop with Samsung Electronics at Gamescom

"Collaborated Over the Past 6 Months to Achieve Peak Performance"

On the 22nd, Krafton announced that it held a technical workshop for ‘Dark and Darker Mobile’ in collaboration with Samsung Electronics at ‘Gamescom 2024’ currently underway in Cologne, Germany.

The workshop was attended by PD An Jun-seok, who oversees the development of Dark and Darker Mobile at Bluehole Studio under Krafton, and Pro Kim Jung-woo from Samsung Electronics’ MX Business Division System Platform Development Group. They introduced the technical collaboration and process between the latest Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy Z Fold6, and Dark and Darker Mobile.

Pro Kim emphasized that Samsung Electronics has focused on optimizing Dark and Darker Mobile over the past six months in cooperation with Krafton to ensure the game delivers the best performance on Galaxy smartphones. In particular, by leveraging the unique form factor and features of the Galaxy Z Fold6, they optimized the Unreal Engine’s ‘Vulkan’ rendering implementation to reduce GPU load by 20%, enabling users to immerse themselves more deeply in the game. Kim said, "This optimization work is not merely about improving game running performance but aims to provide a consistent experience across various GPU architectures."

PD An introduced the core gameplay and main systems of Dark and Darker Mobile. The game is based on the extraction genre and combines characteristics from various genres such as the survival aspect of battle royale, exploration from dungeon crawlers, and growth elements from role-playing games. Set in a medieval low fantasy world, players must overcome various hazards encountered inside dark dungeons and ultimately succeed in escaping.

Notably, the game offers a high level of immersion in terms of visuals and sound. Developed based on Unreal Engine 5.2.1, it delivers realistic graphics and immersive visuals even in a mobile environment. By applying ‘Ray Tracing’ technology, it vividly expresses reflective effects on weapons and armor, as well as dynamic shadows cast by torches on objects.

PD An explained, "Through the application of advanced technologies like ray tracing, Dark and Darker Mobile enhances visual focus and helps users immerse themselves more deeply into the medieval low fantasy world. On the sound side, it is optimized to support Dolby Atmos installed on Galaxy devices, allowing precise recognition of the location of various sounds within the dungeon."

He added, "To realize the feeling of ‘playing a console game in your hand,’ we are conducting optimization through technical cooperation targeting Samsung Electronics’ latest Galaxy smartphones. We plan to continue close collaboration with Samsung Electronics going forward."