[AI Revolution](173) "Anchor Node's AI Solution Leads the 'Renaissance in the Gaming Industry'"

Reducing Game Development Time and Costs with Generative AI
"Let People Focus on Making Games More Fun"
Becoming the Top Choice for Developers

"If development costs can be reduced, a 'Renaissance era' in gaming will emerge, characterized by much more creative and diverse games. Anchor Node is contributing to making this a reality."

Won Jaeho, CEO of Anchor Node, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily. Photo by Yoon Dongju

There is a game that went from technical review to development and launch in just two weeks, thanks to generative artificial intelligence (AI). This is "Snap Town," officially released by Anchor Node in June. It is a city management simulation social network game, which was reborn as a new title using the source code of "My City," a game developer Nexelon introduced in 2017.

In a recent interview at the company’s office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Won Jaeho, CEO of Anchor Node, said, "After signing a contract with Nexelon, five people completed the development in just six days, and the game icon designs (tone, art style, etc.) are perfectly consistent. Manual work by humans has become meaningless."

Anchor Node, a team of veterans with over 20 years in the gaming industry, is applying AI to every stage of game production, enabling games to be created solely from intellectual property (IP). This reduces the time, manpower, and costs required to complete constantly changing expressions, movements, and backgrounds-such as when a game character smiles or cries, or is in a forest or city.

The AI solution that makes this possible, and was also used in the development of "Snap Town," is called "GameAIfy." By simply entering the desired concept, images are automatically generated. You can even request multiple facial expressions for a character in specific states, such as happiness or anger. The AI produces as many as needed, subtly varying features like eyebrows and mouth shapes, while maintaining the character’s basic body type and clothing. The generated images can be downloaded and used immediately.

Won explained, "It used to take years to make a single game, and by then, trends could have already changed. By letting AI handle time-consuming development tasks like artwork, people can focus on finding ways to make the game more fun."

He continued, "Unlike large companies, mid-sized and small game companies find it difficult to maintain their own AI teams, which only widens the technology gap. We are planning to provide consulting so that small game companies in Seoul can effectively utilize AI. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is also preparing for this by allocating related budgets."

Won Jaeho, CEO of Anchor Node, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily. Photo by Yoon Dongju

He predicted that the Renaissance brought by AI will lead to an increase in game developers worldwide, and expressed his determination to become the "number one provider" that these developers turn to first. As a latecomer, he pours his passion into relentless research and testing, enduring sleep deprivation without holding back.

Won noted, "There are similar platforms overseas, such as Scenario (France) and Leonardo AI (Australia), but their teams are not made up of developers. Our expertise, as people who have played and created many games, will make a difference in the field of vertical AI."

Amid these changes, he emphasized that not just manpower, but talented individuals, are needed not only in the gaming industry but throughout society. He said, "In the future, machines will take on roles that require following, understanding, and executing instructions from superiors. Rather than being mere cogs in an organization, we will need more people who have something they want to do or create-people with a creator’s mindset."

Anchor Node received seed round investment from venture capital firm FuturePlay last year, followed by investment from Naver in March this year. Won said, "Within the AI ecosystem formed by Naver’s acquisition of startups, CEOs meet and brainstorm new businesses. For now, we are releasing casual games, but we aim to further boost our productivity and create many success stories across various game genres."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.