Just now, Tencent unveiled the progress of nine game AI applications in one go.
Each year, Tencent Games' press conference is the focus of the industry. On the one hand, it's because the large and diverse product lineup presented at the conference directly indicates what kind of game content Tencent Games will offer to the market in the near future.
On the other hand, as a platform for the industry leader to voice its views, the signals released by Tencent Games' press conference always, either explicitly or implicitly, showcase their judgment on the future opportunities and paths of the industry. For example, at last year's conference, Tencent Games presented its content in three chapters: production, distribution, and investment, and also brought some of its global achievements more directly to the event.
Compared with last year, the level of globalization has further increased this year. In addition, Tencent Games has sent a clear signal - investing in AI.
During the more-than-two-hour press conference, Tencent Games announced nine advancements in game AI applications. There are the implementation results of AI in long - running hit products like Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite, as well as the application of AI technology in new products such as Rainbow Six: Siege and Just Dance: Party. At the same time, Tencent Games officially unveiled an AI game creation platform called "Code Craft", which directly empowers creative realization.
Actually, at the GDC in March this year, Tencent Games gave 21 presentations related to game AI, the highest number among global game manufacturers. From these speeches, the industry can clearly feel Tencent Games' open attitude and leading achievements in game AI.
Today's press conference is another large - scale sharing of game AI practices within half a year. To understand the most cutting - edge development paths and ideas of "game + AI" in the game industry, today's press conference is undoubtedly another excellent window besides the GDC.
01
The Primary AI Topic
Competitive and social games have always been the core business of Tencent Games. Exploring the application of AI in competitive games is naturally a topic that Tencent Games has to face.
Tencent Games has long been planning in the field of competitive game AI. From the early AI Bot to today's AI efficiency improvement, AI NPCs, and AI UGC, it has shown a multi - faceted development pattern and has had a significant impact on the experience and performance of products.
Take Honor of Kings as an example. As early as 2017, Honor of Kings and Tencent AI Lab started to cooperate in developing the strategic collaborative AI "Juewu". Using a deep reinforcement learning framework and training through self - play, it greatly improved the practical combat ability and understanding ability of the combat - type AI Bot.
In 2024, Honor of Kings began to install the AI game companion "Lingbao" in the game. Lingbao is also built based on the self - developed "Juewu" AI. At first, it could only interact and chat with players on the lobby interface. After two years of continuous iteration, "Lingbao" has now developed into a full - scenario intelligent game companion in the game. It can participate in game matches in real - time, provide strategic and operational suggestions for players, and even help players complete some convenient functions such as buying equipment and sending signals.
For a product like Honor of Kings, which has a large general user base, the addition of Lingbao further lowers the operation and learning threshold of the game. Especially for new players and returning players who may not be familiar with the equipment and hero changes in the new season, by chatting with Lingbao, they can learn while playing during the game, saving more time on checking strategies and reading texts, and quickly establishing a connection with the game and their friends who play together.
According to the introduction at this press conference, in the future, Lingbao will be more deeply involved in and out of the game, playing an important role in chatting, providing suggestions, and actual operations. Players can also get more customized Lingbao by experts for a limited time.
The AI route of Peacekeeper Elite is also mainly focused on the "companion" direction within the game, but the implementation method is different. Peacekeeper Elite has always been committed to creating AI teammates who can fight with players. These AI teammates can not only act and make decisions independently in the game but also cooperate in combat according to the players' instructions, such as scouting points, throwing props, and covering fire.
Moreover, at the press conference, Peacekeeper Elite announced that it will launch "Xiaotian", the industry's first AI star teammate driven by a strategic large - model. "Xiaotian" is designed based on the image of Tian Xiwei, the spokesperson of Peacekeeper Elite, and is equipped with an independent story background and long - term memory function. Players can develop a long - term emotional bond with the AI teammate in each game. The AI teammate will also remember the players' habits, preferences, and interests, becoming a real "regular partner" that players are familiar with, realizing the experience of playing games with a virtual good friend rather than just a one - time "partner".
According to the sharing of Xue Bing, the deputy director of the Peacekeeper Elite planning team at the GDC, as of March this year, the cumulative number of users who have experienced all AI NPC gameplay in Peacekeeper Elite has reached 110 million, the highest weekend active user number has reached 17.7 million, the number of in - game message interactions per game has reached 70, and the microphone activation rate is nearly 75%.
In multi - group combat categories such as BR and search - and - destroy, communication between teammates is particularly important. This makes many players prefer to play with their familiar friends or play solo. With the addition of AI teammates, the needs of some users who don't want to socialize with strangers and just want to relax can be effectively met.
Another aspect of AI application in Peacekeeper Elite is UGC. The UGC gameplay module "Oasis Origin" in Peacekeeper Elite is one of the representative cases of creating a UGC ecosystem in domestic long - running games. During the Spring Festival this year, the DAU of Oasis Origin reached a new high of 58 million, which shows how many seeds and fertile ground there are for UGC creation.
At the press conference, Peacekeeper Elite further announced that it will install the industry's first UGC full - link visual generation AI creation assistant. Players only need to express their ideas through "chatting", and the AI creation assistant can help players complete the creation steps from scene generation to gameplay configuration with almost no threshold, and quickly deliver the players' creativity in just 15 minutes.
With more accessible creation tools, it will surely greatly enhance players' creativity and attract them to participate in the creation and experience of "Oasis Origin". More new game playstyles will take root and sprout in the vibrant ecosystem of "Oasis Origin" and may even become the key innovation points in the shooting game track in the future.
It's not hard to find that Tencent Games' leading competitive products are fully researching and continuously developing various possibilities of combining AI with games based on the characteristics of generative AI and their own product needs.
These AI - related explorations are not just conceptual, nor are they just to "ride on the AI wave". They are based on long - term investment and accumulation and have solved some experience problems that products have always struggled to overcome in the past.
In the long run, Tencent Games' AI attempts will also subtly influence the playing habits of the new generation of players. Perhaps in the near future, playing games with voice and touch and playing games with AI teammates will become the new normal and paradigm in competitive games.
02
Diverse Applications in Different Categories
The exploration of AI in Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite has a long history, and many industry insiders and players should be familiar with and have experienced it. In more new products, AI technology also shows a more diverse application trend, empowering the experience optimization and long - term development of multiple categories.
Valorant: First Strike, which belongs to the shooting game track, and the new product Rainbow Six: Siege also showed us more application cases of "game + AI" in the segmented shooting category at the press conference. For Valorant players, the key issue to solve is the product threshold rather than the social problem. How to let players quickly understand the skills and positions of each hero and the terrain and features of each map is the core goal during the user growth stage of Valorant.
Therefore, Valorant launched the "Valorant Intelligent Assistant", which provides players with comprehensive consulting services on tactics, maps, heroes, etc., to help players quickly get started and experience the game. In fact, not only Valorant, but many of Tencent Games' products are also trying to install relevant AI assistant functions to smooth out the entry threshold of games. In the long run, this kind of AI consulting assistant function will indeed have a substantial impact on the initial experience of gameplay - driven products and may become the "standard configuration" for all gameplay - driven products in the future.
Rainbow Six: Siege directly targets the deepest and most troublesome pain point in the shooting game category - cheats. In the global game development history, there are many popular shooting games that have been ruined by cheats. At the press conference, the official said that Rainbow Six: Siege will install an AI real - time detection anti - cheat system in the future. The AI will conduct real - time monitoring and strike, enabling rapid punishment and cracking down on the black market, and building a green and healthy competitive environment for players.
At the same time, Rainbow Six: Siege will also prepare AI opponent training for new players. After all, the diverse operator skills and wall - breaking mechanism in the game are quite unique in current shooting games. Introducing AI opponents from the beginning to narrow the strength gap between new and old players is a good move for Rainbow Six: Siege.
The above products are sufficient to prove that Tencent Games has made rich and user - oriented progress in the "AI + competitive game" field. In fact, in other categories, Tencent Games is also actively combining AI technology with product characteristics.
A special case is Path of Exile: Ascendancy, which is distributed in the Chinese mainland by Tencent. It is a product developed by Grinding Gear Games, an overseas studio invested by Tencent Games, and has a high level of build depth. It is quite difficult to embed AI into the game from the R & D level.
The solution provided by the Chinese mainland version is to launch the AI assistant "Danjun" on the WeGame platform and continuously upgrade its participation depth and recommendation function. It can provide personalized build recommendations according to players' needs and also analyze the cost - effectiveness of market equipment in real - time, helping players better plan their consumption and development behavior. By using AI technology, it breaks the "information gap" among players and allows more players to experience the charm of in - depth builds and ARPGs.
Another music game, Just Dance: Party, a cooperation between Tencent Games and Ubisoft, hopes to co - create the game's gameplay ecosystem with players. By introducing the AI UGC choreography function, it not only relieves the production capacity pressure during the product development process to a certain extent but also allows players to be deeply involved in the music and dance creation of the game, making them more closely connected with the game ecosystem.
It's not hard to find that most of the above products are co - created by Tencent Games and overseas studios. There may be cultural differences between some products and Chinese players, and some product categories are relatively scarce in the domestic market. These all require Tencent Games and its partners to work together to overcome the obstacles and barriers. With the continuous development of AI technology, Tencent Games can also empower external developers with its own AI technology and practices, driving the common development of the industry and product categories, and further enhancing the understanding between Tencent Games and players.
03
Technology Bridging the Industry and Users
To some extent, we can say that AI technology is bridging the gap between the industry and users, as well as between developers and players. With the development of AI technology, more and more players can use low - threshold technology to participate in game creation to some extent. This kind of creation and communication can also allow developers and players to more intuitively understand the developers' design intentions and product expressions. Thus, the cultural product attribute of games is gradually playing a more crucial role with the support of AI technology.
Digital Jingdezhen: Porcelain Craftsman is a good example shown at the press conference. This game is jointly developed by Tencent Games, Tencent SSV, the Jingdezhen Culture and Tourism Bureau, the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum, and the Leading Group Office for the Application of Jingdezhen to the World Heritage List. Players can learn in detail about the development history of Jingdezhen porcelain and the cultural context behind it during the game.
In the past, Tencent Games also developed many games related to intangible cultural heritage and public welfare. At that time, players' experience mainly involved "watching" and "reading", supplemented by some traditional game playstyles. Now, with the support of AI technology, there have been significant changes in the development and interactive experience of Digital Jingdezhen: Porcelain Craftsman.
First of all, the game is developed based on the multi - modal AI dataset of "Jingdezhen porcelain industry cultural heritage" and integrates cutting - edge technologies such as AI digital humans and AI 3D generation, more efficiently and accurately restoring the grand scene of ancient manual porcelain - making and the entire set of ancient techniques.
Secondly, the game is equipped with an "AI master" with rich knowledge of the porcelain industry. It can interact with players in real - time through voice, expressions, and actions. Players can directly ask it any questions about porcelain industry history and culture, and the AI master will vividly and detailedly explain the stories behind them.
