NCSOFT's Horizon Steel Frontiers Used AI 'Extensively' in Development - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 13 November 2025 / 4,263 Views
NCSOFT this week announced it had licensed out Sony Interactive Entertainment's Horizon IP for a new MMORPG, Horizon Steel Frontier.
The development team at NCSOFT speaking with Korean site Ruliweb (translated by a user on ResetEra) revealed they used AI "extensively."
"Within the company, we are testing and receiving help from basic NPCs in the process of cooperating or fighting together in combat," replied the developer when asked about the use of AI.
"In our case, since it's an ARPG, we are receiving help in various aspects, such as determining the optimal number of players for gameplay rather than playing with a large number of users. Internally, we are also using AI assistance for production, from coding to art.
"It is being substantially implemented in actual development, and the technologies will likely be revealed one by one later. The Horizon development team is also the team that wants to utilize AI the most. We are using it extensively, and you will be able to see the level of AI utilization increase significantly in the games released after Aion 2."
Horizon Steel Frontier is in development for PC, iOS, and Android.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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So it's trash and only dumbasses will support it
Hope you extend that perspective to Arc Raiders.
I did. I'd never play that game AI or not anyway https://www.vgchartz.com/article/466234/arc-raiders-sales-top-4-million-units/
I don’t know anything about Arc Raiders, but good on you for sticking to your convictions.
Convictions is not a word I'd use for weirdos who hate anything AI related without even knowing why, or even without knowing the first thing about AI.
Devs being a lot more lazier isn't incentive for success,
Fck a.i
What a load of shit.
The enshittification of gaming is well underway I see.
Who cares? An AI could have done the first 2 games, the result would probably have been better.
Yes, fuel the trash fire and rage. This will only end in good.
Is this why they sued tencent? They were making their own AI knock off.
Sony sued Tencent because Tencent wanted to make a Horizon game and Sony said no. Presumably, because the IP had already been licensed out to NCSoft.
Sony were more than willing to take pitches for other IP, which they did with Tencent, but Tencent only wanted Horizon. Then they used the work to make their own game.
