{"rewrite":{"id":"r_16f40f6db581cbd324841f84","clusterId":"c_18863a6e61b2b6c9086e65b5","slug":"nexon-ceo-says-ai-era-shifts-competition-to-user-understanding-at-ndc26","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Nexon CEO Says AI Era Shifts Competition to User Understanding at NDC26","summary":"NEXON Korea's annual developer conference NDC26 opened on June 16 in Pangyo, South Korea, with a welcome speech by CEO Lee Jung-hoon and a keynote by Co-CEO Kang Dae-hyun. Lee described AI as a \"revolution in creation and computation\" that gives everyone the same implementation tools, making the key differentiator a developer's insight into what users truly value. Kang's keynote, titled \"In an era where implementation becomes easy, what do we compete on?,\" argued that the competitive edge now lies in what he called \"contextual compound interest\"-the accumulated understanding and relationships built over time between creators and players. He contrasted this with \"simple interest\" approaches that fail to carry lessons forward. Kang cited data showing Steam releases grew from about 2,800 in 2015 to roughly 20,000 in 2025, yet only 3% received over 1,000 reviews, and 57% of playtime in 2024 went to games over six years old. He warned that while AI can produce outputs, it cannot create the promises and trust that sustain live games. The conference runs through June 18 with 51 sessions across nine tracks, including a talk from Embark Studios.","whyItMatters":"Kang's framing of \"context capital\" as a moat that AI cannot replicate reframes the industry debate from efficiency gains to the long-term value of community and operational history.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eCo-CEO Kang Dae-hyun opened his keynote by recalling that he asked a similar question eight years ago at NDC18, under the title \u0026#34;A Voyage Toward Fun.\u0026#34; He confessed he once found curling boring, but the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics changed that when national context-a team to support, comeback dramas, the name \u0026#34;Yongmi\u0026#34;-transformed the same sport into a captivating event. That observation led him to see that game satisfaction depends less on static \u0026#34;implementation\u0026#34; elements like graphics and rules than on dynamic ones: who you meet and what events you experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKang argued that the collapse of implementation barriers is not hypothetical. He cited Steam data showing concurrent users surpassed 42 million in March 2026, an all-time high, while early-stage game investment fell to a recent low. \u0026#34;One side is at an all-time high, the other at a low within a few years,\u0026#34; he said. He compared AI\u0026#39;s effect to the steam engine: efficiency gains did not reduce coal use but expanded adoption, shifting competition to new arenas.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo illustrate \u0026#34;context capital,\u0026#34; Kang pointed to a hat in \u003cem\u003eMapleStory\u003c/em\u003e that looks like any other but can only be worn by avatars through deep understanding of the game\u0026#39;s rules. He contrasted \u0026#34;simple interest\u0026#34;-repeating the same pattern without carrying lessons forward-with \u0026#34;compound interest,\u0026#34; where community experiences like a user-created \u0026#34;Henesys Disaster\u0026#34; reenactment in \u003cem\u003eMapleStory Worlds\u003c/em\u003e in 2023 built on a 2009 incident. \u0026#34;Users do not consume games. They live in games,\u0026#34; he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCEO Lee Jung-hoon\u0026#39;s welcome speech framed AI as \u0026#34;a revolution in creation and computation.\u0026#34; He noted that NDC, now in its 19th year, has grown from a small in-house event in 2007 to a conference representing Korea\u0026#39;s game industry. This year\u0026#39;s 51 sessions across nine tracks include a talk from Embark Studios, developer of \u003cem\u003eARC Raiders\u003c/em\u003e, and sessions on \u003cem\u003eBlue Archive\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMabinogi Mobile\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe First Descendant\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Kang Dae-hyun at NDC26: \"AI can make millions of hats worldwide. But a hat that only has meaning in your game, a hat that makes users smile the moment they see it, can only be made by you.\"","twitterPost":"NDC26 keynote: 57% of PC/console playtime in 2024 went to games over 6 years old. Kang says the real competition is not implementation but \"contextual compound interest\" built over time.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"NEXON Korea's NDC26 opened with a clear message: AI makes implementation easy, but the real differentiator is user understanding. Co-CEO Kang Dae-hyun introduced \"contextual compound interest\" as the new competitive edge, arguing that time and community trust cannot be replicated by AI. The conference runs through June 18 with 51 sessions.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"4Gamer.net\",\"url\":\"https://www.4gamer.net/games/991/G999110/20260616008/\",\"title\":\"In an era where AI is breaking down implementation barriers, what will games compete on? Report on NEXON Korea Co-CEO's keynote on 'contextual compound interest' [NDC26]\"},{\"source\":\"4Gamer.net\",\"url\":\"https://www.4gamer.net/games/991/G999110/20260616004/\",\"title\":\"\\\"AI is a Revolution in Creation and Computation.\\\" Now That Everyone Has the Same Tools, the Question Is Understanding the User. A Report on the CEO's Opening Talk at NDC26 [NDC26]\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":16077,"outputTokens":1528,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1781596438,"createdAt":"2026-06-16T07:46:12.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-06-16T07:49:57.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-16T07:49:57.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_18863a6e61b2b6c9086e65b5","canonicalTitle":"「AIは創作と演算の革命」。誰もが同じ道具を手にした今，問われるのはユーザーへの理解だ。CEOが語ったNDC26のオープニングトークをレポート［NDC26］","representativeArticleId":"a_8fce054ed53e66ecbc8d9121","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":false,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[\"NEXON Korea\"],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-06-16T04:41:46.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-06-18T09:49:59.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-18T09:53:42.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"4Gamer.net","url":"https://www.4gamer.net/games/519/G051983/20260618044/","title":"「ブルーアーカイブ」は何が成功して，何が課題だったのか。チャ・ミンソPDが語る開発ポストモーテム［NDC26］"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":["NEXON Korea"],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["Nexon CEO Lee Jung-hoon described AI as a 'revolution in creation and computation' during his welcome speech at NDC26 on June 16 in Pangyo, South Korea.","Co-CEO Kang Dae-hyun argued that the competitive edge in gaming now lies in 'contextual compound interest,' the accumulated understanding and relationships between creators and players.","Kang cited Steam data showing releases grew from about 2,800 in 2015 to roughly 20,000 in 2025, but only 3% received over 1,000 reviews, and 57% of playtime in 2024 went to games over six years old.","Kang warned that while AI can produce outputs, it cannot create the promises and trust that sustain live games.","NDC26 runs through June 18 with 51 sessions across nine tracks, including a talk from Embark Studios."]}