Another day, another AI headline, this time from Krafton, the studio behind PUBG. The company has announced a sweeping «AI-first» transformation, investing more than 100 billion won ($72 mln) into advanced «Agentic AI» systems and automation tools designed to handle repetitive tasks and analytics.
Krafton says the move will allow developers to focus on creativity and innovation. It plans to build a massive GPU cluster using NVIDIA’s B300 chips and aims to have its AI platform fully operational by 2026. The company also pledged 30 bn won ($22 mln) annually to help employees experiment with AI.
Not everyone in gaming agrees with this direction. Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld and now locked in a legal battle with Nintendo, has taken the opposite stance, banning generative AI from its new publishing division. Headed by John Buckley, the team refuses to release any game using AI, Web3, or NFTs, arguing that such tools threaten artistic integrity and creativity.
The contrasting approaches from Krafton and Pocketpair highlight a deepening divide in the gaming world. While major studios like Microsoft and Krafton are betting on automation, indie developers are pushing back, warning that the rush toward AI risks replacing human talent with algorithms and producing soulless, homogenized games.
The future of game development, it seems, is being drawn along an increasingly digital fault line.
