NVIDIA ACE (Avatar Cloud Engine) was first shown back at Computex 2023, with the promise to bring NPCs to life through its suite of AI technologies in games like PUBG, Naraka: Bladepoint, and inZoi. Now, players will get to test for themselves how real that promise is, as the NVIDIA ACE-powered PUBG Ally AI-teammates are available for players to add to their squad in Duos games for the next two weeks as part of a beta test.
The demo video below shows a team winning a match in PUBG with one human player and one AI-controller Ally player that communicates and discusses strategy with you as you play. The AI companion is a "highly adaptive, context-aware AI teammate that dynamically adjusts its playstyle based on your commands and emergent battlefield situations," NVIDIA says in a blog announcing the beta.
"It makes independent decisions such as looting, fighting and navigating to support you, all without requiring continuous prompting. Capable of understanding both voice and text inputs, from casual comments to tactical instructions, PUBG Ally possesses a deep knowledge of PUBG-specific terminology, player lingo, map locations, and item attributes."
The AI companions will be available for players to check out as part of a beta test for the technology until June 30, 2026, so you have two weeks starting from today to win as many matches with an AI companion carrying you to victory.
AI-powered companions in video games are, of course, nothing new conceptually, but what the AI-first company KRAFTON is introducing here alongside NVIDIA is something more than just having an NPC fight alongside you in a game.
It's closer to what we've seen get implemented in Dragon Quest X or another of KRAFTON's games, the aforementioned inZoi with its 'Smart Zoi' NPCs. An AI companion that can actually respond to you and to the game, rather than being limited to carrying out pre-determined actions in pre-determined scenarios.
NVIDIA claims that PUBG Ally "represents a new generation of AI game characters designed for deeper immersion," though the jury is still out as to whether these characters can actually get you more immersed in the game. 'Bots' in multiplayer games are the kind of thing you see in game modes that aren't as populated, and have always served to take players out of the multiplayer action they're trying to enjoy when they realize that kill they just got wasn't actually impressive at all.
People play competitive multiplayer games for the thrill of going up against other real life human players and coming out victorious. The competitive nature of all these games is about being better than the other person. It's difficult to see how investing tons of time and energy into encouraging more play without humans is something anyone in a multiplayer game might want to have.
There are arguments to be made for newcomers who are still learning the ropes, of course, but once you have a handle on how to play, adding a PUBG Ally to your squad kind of runs against the whole point of competitive multiplayer games in the first place. It'll be interesting to see how players react to the tech as they try it out over the next couple of weeks.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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