Krafton and PUBG Studios have announced the beta testing of a new arcade mode called Ally Duo for the tactical shooter PUBG: Battlegrounds. The test will be available to players from June 17 to July 1.
In this new mode, users will form a duo where the second teammate is an AI character named Ella. Matches will take place on the Sanhok map.
The key feature of the mode is real-time voice interaction with the AI companion. Ella is capable of understanding player commands and cooperating in various gameplay scenarios, including:
- coordinating movement across the map
- looting items and managing equipment
- discussing and executing strategies
Ella is built on Krafton’s internal PUBG Ally technology, a new type of co-play AI character powered by speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS) systems.
The AI runs on a small language model directly on-device, developed using NVIDIA ACE platform. This allows Ella not only to understand direct commands but also to evaluate battlefield situations and respond proactively.
Developers describe AI integration as a potential evolution of the battle royale genre, offering a new level of immersion in gameplay.
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