Nexon's Lee Jungheon: "In an Era Where AI Makes Implementation Easy, Insight Makes the Difference"

'2026 Nexon Developer Conference' Kicks Off

9 Tracks, 51 Sessions... 15 Focused on AI

"Games Must Offer Value to Users"

Kang Daehyun: "Building a Virtuous Cycle of Context with Users"

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an irreversible and definitive wave of change. Now that everyone has the tools to implement it easily, what makes a difference is insight and judgment."

Lee Jungheon, CEO of Nexon Japan, stated this during his welcome speech at the "2026 Nexon Developer Conference (NDC)" held on June 16 at the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation. He said, "No matter how much technology changes, users always remember and return to fun games. I hope NDC serves as an opportunity for us to revisit that essence and move toward deeper reflection."

Lee Jeongheon, CEO of Nexon Japan, is delivering the welcoming remarks at the '2026 Nexon Developers Conference (NDC)' held on the 16th at the Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center. Photo by Noh Kyungjo

CEO Lee described AI as a revolution in creation and computation, explaining that it is reducing the marginal cost of generating and analyzing information and content to nearly zero. He emphasized, "At times like this, 'insight' born from deep understanding and empathy for users becomes important," adding, "The most important criterion for deciding what to create with new technology should be how much users are enthusiastic about, what moments leave them unsatisfied, and how much value we can provide so they are willing to spend time in the worlds we create."

In the subsequent keynote speech, Kang Daehyun, Co-CEO of Nexon Korea, gave a presentation on the topic, "In an Era Where Implementation Is Easier, What Do We Compete With?" Kang highlighted the importance of 'context' accumulated over time, saying, "The connection of context works like compound interest. The virtuous cycle of context that developers build together with users will become a competitive edge in the AI era."

NDC is the largest game development knowledge conference in Korea and celebrates its 19th edition this year. Developers from Nexon Company, including Embark Studios, the creators of the global hit 'Arc Raiders,' as well as representatives from domestic and international game and IT companies, are participating as speakers, broadening the scope of exchange. There are 9 tracks and 51 sessions, of which 15 focus on AI.

This year, Nexon has strengthened the lineup of expert panel discussions at NDC. Going beyond the delivery of knowledge by single speakers, the company expects that the process of experts from diverse backgrounds engaging in dialogue will offer attendees even deeper insights.

Park Yonghyun, CEO of Nexon Games, will share his leadership and philosophy in leading multiple major new projects at the same time in his session, "What It Means to Develop Multiple Games Simultaneously." Tynan Sylvester, creator of the indie game hit 'RimWorld,' is scheduled to discuss "What Is My System Saying?" focusing on the interaction between game worlds and players.

Official image of the '2026 Nexon Developers Conference (NDC)'. Provided by Nexon.

Panel discussions on AI and data will also take place. Taehun Kim, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Love and Fury and former OpenAI engineer, and Lee Yonguk, Executive Director at Nexon Korea, will discuss "An Era Where AI Is 10 Times Faster: No Reason to Stop Growing," addressing how the adoption of AI is changing organizational growth models. In the session "In the Age of AI, What Is Nexon Preparing with Data?" Nexon Korea's division heads Ryu Cheonghun and Bae Junyoung, along with Lim Jinsik, Country Manager of Snowflake Korea, will share cases of data-driven decision-making and AI infrastructure advancement. On the final day, Nexon and Krafton's AX journeys will be unveiled. Kang Deokwon, division head at Nexon, and Im Kyungyoung, Vice President of Krafton, will share each company's lessons and achievements accumulated during the transition to AI.

In individual sessions, Embark Studios will present the real-world challenges and achievements they faced while applying machine learning across the entire game development process. Concrete methods for utilizing AI in areas such as game planning and data analysis will also be addressed. In the session "Does AI Dream of Storytelling?" speakers will introduce their experiences applying generative AI to the narrative design process, from worldbuilding to scenario writing, sharing candid insights into what AI excels at and where human judgment is still essential. The session "AI Search: From Dashboards to Agents" will cover the development of a game data analysis platform that incorporates a natural language AI agent.

During the event, visitors can also view a game art exhibition based on Nexon's intellectual properties (IP), such as MapleStory and Mabinogi, on the first and second floors of Nexon's Pangyo headquarters. This is the first time in seven years, since 2019, that the exhibition is fully open to the public offline. CEO Lee commented, "I hope NDC can help you find answers to what other projects are attempting, what lessons have been learned, and what you can take away from their journeys."

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