The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) announced on May 6 that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Mobile Game Association, the Korea Game Developers Association, the Korea AI Game Association, and the Korea Association of Game Industry to promote the 'Game Production Environment AI Transformation (AX) Support Project'.

This project was established to respond to the rapidly changing game production environment, characterized by intensifying global competition and the proliferation of generative AI, and to alleviate the burden of AI utilization for game companies. KOCCA and the game industry associations plan to strengthen the global competitiveness of the K-game industry by supporting the AI transformation of game production environments.

In March, KOCCA conducted a survey on AI transformation support needs for the game industry in collaboration with these associations. Subscription fee burdens were cited as the biggest difficulty in the AI transformation process (81.9% response rate), and there was also a high demand for practical training programs. Accordingly, KOCCA and the game industry associations are promoting various support projects to expand AI utilization by game companies.

Applications for this project will be accepted by each association from May 18 to May 27. The scale of support based on company size is as follows: ▲approx. 200 companies with 1-2 employees (up to 5 million KRW per company) ▲approx. 150 companies with 3-10 employees (up to 10 million KRW per company) ▲approx. 100 companies with 11-20 employees (up to 20 million KRW per company), and ▲approx. 50 companies with 21-50 employees (up to 50 million KRW per company).

Eligible applicants are game-related businesses, excluding companies already selected for this year's KOCCA game production support projects. Selection will be conducted via public lottery, and selected companies must submit monthly reports on their AI utilization in game production.

Companies can utilize the tools presented in the application guidelines, and monthly updates will be made to reflect on-site needs. The project supports 100% of the supply cost for domestic AI tools and 90% for overseas AI tools. Additionally, copyright and legal guides related to AI in game production will be provided, and result-sharing sessions will be held.

Hwang Sung-ik, Chairman of the Korea Mobile Game Association, stated, "To promote the globalization and development capabilities of K-games, we will work closely with various game industry associations to provide seamless support for everyone from solo developers to SMEs."

Shin Yong-hun, Chairman of the Korea Game Developers Association, said, "We hope this project will alleviate the burden of AI tool utilization for game developers and help improve production efficiency. We will actively support the development of K-games with global competitiveness by responding flexibly to the rapidly changing game production environment."

Hong Young-gi, Vice Chairman of the Korea AI Game Association, noted, "Given the high proportion of solo entrepreneurs and indie studios in the indie game sector, we will actively support this initiative to ensure it provides practical, tangible benefits in the field."

Cho Young-gi, Chairman of the Korea Association of Game Industry, stated, "We hope this support project will help improve the production environment and strengthen development competitiveness for SMEs that feel burdened by AI adoption, and the Korea Association of Game Industry will actively cooperate."

Yoo Hyun-seok, Acting President of KOCCA, remarked, "This project serves as a catalyst for increasing the adaptability of the game production environment to AI and creating a successful environment for AI introduction. We will continue to lead AI utilization in the game industry and actively support the strengthening of the global competitiveness of K-game content."