The Chinese company NetEase was Blizzard’s partner in China for 15 years, releasing games like Overwatch and World of Warcraft (WoW) there. After Blizzard terminated the collaboration, NetEase had to shut down the games in January 2023. Now the company is planning a new, revolutionary MMORPG with the help of AI ChatGPT. In Justice Online Mobile, real dialogues with NPCs should be possible.
Who is the company?
- NetEase is a huge Chinese corporation with over 18,000 employees: Alongside Tencent, NetEase is THE Chinese internet giant.
- Until a few weeks ago, NetEase published Blizzard’s games in China – but the collaboration ended in January 2023 after 15 years.
- NetEase is also collaborating with Destiny developer Bungie and was involved in the development of Diablo Immortal
- NetEase is behind several MMORPGs and online games such as Revelation Online, Naraka: Bladepoint, and Justice Online.
AI should enable real dialogues with NPCs that influence the game
This is now the plan for their new MMORPG: According to influential analyst Daniel Ahmad, NetEase is planning the launch of a new MMO: “Justice Online Mobile.” This is supposed to be the first game supported by AI “ChatGPT”:
- The AI should allow players to interact with the game in unique ways
- Through AI, it should be possible to create conversations with NPCs that are completely voiced and emotionally driven. The dialogues should even have a real impact on the storyline
- Players should be able to write or speak their part of the dialogue
With Justice Online, NetEase has already one of the most beautiful MMORPGs on the market:
What would that be like in the game? Ahmad explains that in the MMORPG you could tell an NPC that their house is burning, and they would then run home.
Or you could sow discord between two NPCs who are in love with each other.
What the expert says: Analyst Daniel Ahmad specializes in developments in the gaming market in Asia. He restricts on Twitter that there is only a demo of the game, so it’s still unclear whether it really goes that deep or if it’s just a marketing gimmick at this time.
NetEase’s plan is to use the AI technology to support many parts of the game:
- task completion
- content creation
- character creation
- additional tasks.
How is that being discussed? There are almost always the same 2 reactions when it comes to the use of AI, so it is also the case here:
- Part of the people is excited about the new possibilities that AI technology offers
- others see the risks: If the AI speaks all dialogues, will not all voice actors be unemployed in the future?
The AI ChatGPT has had a significant impact on the global economy in recent weeks and apparently fuels visions in many industries about what is possible in the future.
What is ChatGPT? Everything you need to know about the AI from OpenAI
