NCSoft Aims for the Top in Both Gaming and AI: "Transformation Will Bear Fruit"

Image of NCSoft's upcoming new title "Aion 2," scheduled for release in the second half of this year. Provided by NCSoft

NCSoft, which declared 2025 as its "Year of Challenge," is now seeing the results of its transformation. Its technology subsidiary, NC AI, has been selected as a lead participant in a national artificial intelligence (AI) project, and the company plans to maintain its momentum in the second half of the year with the highly anticipated release of "Aion 2."

According to NCSoft on August 11, the first area to show results has been artificial intelligence. NC AI was recently chosen as one of five elite teams to participate in the government's "Independent AI Foundation Model Project." This achievement comes just six months after the subsidiary became independent from the parent company. By participating in this project, NC AI will receive support in the form of graphics processing units (GPUs), high-quality data, and funding for talent acquisition.

The company has entered the final development stage for Aion 2, which is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year. Aion 2 is a new MMORPG based on Unreal Engine 5 and is the official successor to the flagship IP, Aion. Since its launch in 2008, the original Aion achieved first place in PC cafe market share for 160 consecutive weeks, won the Presidential Award at the Korea Game Awards, and was named Best Online Game at Gamescom, establishing itself as a core IP following "Lineage." NCSoft aims to achieve a turnaround in the second half of the year, leveraging the performance of its spin-off subsidiaries and the impact of new releases.

Park Byungmoo, co-CEO of NCSoft, stated, "This year, we will return to basics to enhance gameplay and match each studio with publishing organizations to meet market expectations."