In the virtual world, players crave companionship. Previously, players were accompanied by gaming partners, but in the future, they may become intelligent partners who are online 24 hours a day. Before the emergence of intelligent NPCs (non player controlled characters), NPCs in games were often presented in the form of scripts, namely tool humans. But now the situation is changing, and Ubisoft has provided a new idea: players must make friends with NPCs, otherwise they may not be able to continue playing. At the 2024 Global Game Developers Conference (GDC), Ubisoft unveiled its first player oriented generative artificial intelligence NPC - NEO NPCs. In the demonstration animation displayed by Ubisoft, players engage in meaningful conversations with NEO NPCs through voice chat. After understanding the player's intentions, NPCs will generate emotions and react based on real-time chat content, unlocking new story elements or tasks for the player. They can even provide ideas, ask questions, and help the player plan future actions based on interaction with the player. NVIDIA's intelligent engine ACE also includes a "growth course" in its design: using generative AI to give life to digital virtual characters, utilizing advanced AI algorithms and customized AI solutions, ultimately allowing NPCs to exhibit more natural reactions, possess deeper interactive abilities, and even learn and adapt to player behavior. In other words, players become teachers of AI and allow NPCs to become companions in the game through learning, no longer just tools. Can we go further? Perhaps, not only can NPCs take you to play games, but they can also play games for you. Google is making such an attempt. Google's artificial intelligence laboratory DeepMind has released an innovative artificial intelligence product called "SIMA", which has been trained and tested in 9 different video games. SIMA can understand natural language instructions and perform tasks in multiple 3D virtual environments, adapting flexibly like human players, making it a universal AI that spans multiple game worlds, rather than just an AI customized for a particular game. What does this mean? According to information disclosed by Google, SIMA has now mastered over 600 basic skills in 9 games, covering multiple dimensions such as navigation, object interaction, and menu usage, and has been trained to perform simple tasks that can be completed in about 10 seconds. In addition, even when facing new game environments that have not appeared in the training set, SIMA can still demonstrate strong generalization ability. In other words, once artificial intelligence like SIMA matures, players can have their AI, which usually plays as an assistant and follows their growth in the game, play games for them while they are resting. This is very different from the gameplay of "mechanical monster slaying" and "pathfinding idle", because AI will "fight" according to the player's preferences, interests, and game logic, without worrying about going astray or clicking on the wrong skill tree... How much space is there for imagination? Perhaps combined with Kunlun Wanwei's AI game concept, it will be more flavorful. Kunlun Wanwei introduced intelligent NPCs in the game Club Koala, with an innovative gameplay called Home Island. Players can create their own virtual avatars on the main island, build and decorate their islands and houses, and thus form an active player virtual community. According to Kunlun Wanwei's vision, the intelligent NPCs in the virtual community of this game have self-awareness, will independently set schedules and execute them, and respond to unexpected behaviors. The interaction behavior between players and AI NPCs will be remembered by the latter and reflected in subsequent interaction behaviors. Each intelligent NPC will decide and execute their behavior based on their personality, traits, desires, and memories, and will affect their relationships and subsequent development. If combined with Google's SIMA approach, the Hollywood blockbuster "Out of Control Player" would almost be staged. I just don't know if the smart NPC will lose control in the future! However, don't worry too much, at least we can still unplug the plug... (Le Xin She)