At a game hackathon that OpenAI is hosting in Seoul, prominent Korean game developers, including former XLGAMES CEO Song Jae-kyung, who created "The Kingdom of the Winds" and "Lineage," will serve as mentors.
OpenAI said on the 14th that it unveiled the lineup of 12 leading Korean game developers who will take part in "OpenAI Game Builders Seoul," to be held in Seoul on the 31st.
Former XLGAMES CEO Song Jae-kyung, whose participation was announced earlier, is a first-generation online game developer in Korea who developed "The Kingdom of the Winds" and "Lineage" at Nexon and NCSOFT, founded XLGAMES, and created "ArcheAge." Recently, Song joined Nexus and is taking on "Open MMO," a solo-developer MMORPG project using generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Kang Dae-hyun, CEO of Nexon Korea, and Kim Dae-hwon, CEO of Aiverton, also made the participant list. Kang has led game development, live services, and data technology advancement at Nexon, spanning the DUNGEON & FIGHTER development organization, the Live Division, and Intelligence Labs.
Kim served as executive vice president overseeing new development at Nexon, leading the development of the MMORPG "Pracia Electric" and the launch of the game brand "Mintrocket." Kim later founded Aiverton and is overseeing development of the new title "Zeus: God of Hubris."
Also participating to share development experience are key figures in the Korean game industry, including AquaTree CEO Park Beom-jin, who at Netmarble created "Lineage 2: Revolution" and "Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds," Second Dive CEO Ban Seung-cheol, and former Devsisters chief technology officer (CTO) Hong Seong-jin.
Game Builders Seoul is the first hackathon OpenAI is holding worldwide on game development using Codex. The 40 teams selected for the final round will use Codex to turn their game ideas into actual games. They will also integrate core features needed for real game operations, such as login and security, by using the "Hive" plugin from Korean game company Com2uS's platform.
The game industry figures announced this time will participate as mentors, sharing with participants the development experience they have accumulated over decades and exploring together new ways of making games with Codex.
OpenAI Korea country head Kim Kyung-hoon said, "Korea has long built globally competitive games and a development culture," adding, "We expect Codex to become a practical tool that lets developers test and implement ideas faster, and to serve as a chance to expand how games are made."