The company is advancing research into socially intelligent robots that can interpret human intent, respond to feedback and adapt to changing environments
BENGALURU: KRAFTON Inc. is expanding its work in artificial intelligence (AI) into robotics through Ludo Robotics. The KRAFTON subsidiary develops AI for socially intelligent robots that can better understand, communicate and collaborate with people.
Games have long served as testing grounds for AI. KRAFTON’s virtual worlds bring together millions of players whose behaviour is unpredictable, social and constantly changing. Developing intelligent systems for these environments has led the company to invest in machine learning, reinforcement learning, large language models and multimodal AI. This work includes proprietary AI foundation models and Co-Playable Characters (CPCs), developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, which are designed to understand players and respond to them in real time.
Ludo Robotics builds on this foundation to bring similar capabilities into the physical world. The company recently presented Ludi 0.2, the latest version of its robotic intelligence system, at the 2026 Bay Area Robotics Symposium (BARS) at UC Berkeley.
“For nearly two decades, KRAFTON has built games and virtual worlds where people and intelligent systems interact in real time,” said CH Kim, CEO of KRAFTON and Ludo Robotics. “Through Ludo Robotics, we’re building on that experience to explore how AI can better understand people and interact with them naturally in the physical world.”
Advancing Socially Intelligent Robotics Through Ludi 0.2
Ludo Robotics is developing general-purpose robotic intelligence systems designed to understand human intent, adapt to changing environments and collaborate naturally with people. Its approach focuses on a key challenge in robotics: enabling intelligent systems to move beyond predefined commands to understand context, interpret human behaviour and respond appropriately as situations evolve.
Introduced in August 2026, Ludi 0.1 combined a vision-language model for reasoning and dialogue with specialised navigation and manipulation capabilities. The system was designed to interpret spoken instructions, maintain conversational context, ask clarifying questions and adapt to changing tasks within supported environments.
Building on this foundation, Ludi 0.2 advances several capabilities that support more natural human-robot interaction, including:
- Social Intelligence: Improving the system’s ability to interpret human intent, respond to feedback and account for social cues during interactions.
- Memory and Reasoning: Advancing its ability to maintain context and reason through changing tasks and situations.
- Tool Coordination: Supporting more coordinated use of capabilities involved in navigation, manipulation and interaction.
- Gesture Interpretation: Improving its ability to recognise and respond to human gestures during physical interactions.
- Physical Movement: Supporting smoother and more adaptable movement in supported environments.
Together, these capabilities represent continued progress towards robotic systems that integrate communication, reasoning and physical action, allowing them to interact more naturally with people.
“Robots are becoming increasingly capable of performing physical tasks, but understanding and responding to people remains a major challenge,” said Kangwook Lee, Chief AI Officer of KRAFTON and CTO of Ludo Robotics. “Ludi 0.2 represents another step towards our goal of bringing conversation, reasoning and physical action together so robots can better understand human intent, respond to feedback and adapt as situations change.”
Ludo Robotics’ longer-term research roadmap includes Ludi 1.0, a next-generation foundation model currently in development. The model aims to integrate perception, dialogue and physical action within a unified system, enabling robots to maintain a shared understanding of tasks with people while communicating and acting in real time.
By bringing these capabilities together, Ludo Robotics aims to advance robotic intelligence and enable more natural collaboration between humans and machines.
Establishing a Silicon Valley Hub for AI and Robotics Research
Ludo Robotics is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with an additional research and development lab in Seoul, South Korea. These locations place the team close to leading research talent, academic institutions and the broader technology ecosystem.
The company’s scientific leadership brings together expertise across AI, robotics and human-computer interaction. Kangwook Lee, Chief Technology Officer of Ludo Robotics and Chief AI Officer of KRAFTON, is a former tenured associate professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, whose research spans machine learning, large language models, reinforcement learning and multimodal AI.
Chief Scientist Rob Nowak is an IEEE Fellow and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, specialising in machine learning, embodied AI and robot learning. Yea-Seul Kim, Human-Robot Interaction Lead, is a former assistant professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with expertise in human-computer interaction, information visualisation and data science.
The Palo Alto and Seoul locations will support Ludo Robotics’ continued research into socially intelligent robots, with the long-term aim of developing systems that can collaborate naturally with people in homes, workplaces and other real-world environments.
Building the Research Foundation for Socially Intelligent Robots
Real-world human interactions involve ambiguity, changing preferences, non-verbal communication and unpredictable behaviour, making them challenging for robots to navigate. To address these challenges, Ludo Robotics combines simulated environments, AI-generated social interactions and real-world human behaviour data.
The company is also developing evaluation benchmarks to assess how robots handle complex social situations involving different personalities, preferences and relationships, as well as physical manipulation guided by human gestures.
About Ludo Robotics
Ludo Robotics builds AI for socially intelligent robots that can understand, communicate and collaborate with people. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with a R&D lab in Seoul, Korea, the company brings together researchers and engineers across robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop robust, adaptive systems capable of handling real-world scenarios and working alongside people in homes, workplaces and public spaces. Backed by KRAFTON, Ludo Robotics believes data-driven machine learning at scale is key to advancing socially intelligent robotics and enabling the widespread deployment of robots across society.
About KRAFTON, Inc.
Headquartered in Korea, KRAFTON, Inc. is dedicated to discovering and publishing captivating games that offer fun and unique experiences. Established in 2007, KRAFTON is built on a global network of 19 creative studios that include PUBG STUDIOS, Striking Distance Studios, Unknown Worlds, Neon Giant, KRAFTON Montréal Studio, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings, 5minlab, Dreamotion, ReLU Games, Flyway Games, Tango Gameworks, inZOI Studio, JOFSOFT, Eleventh Hour Games, OmniCraft Labs, Olivetree Games, Loonshot Games, and 9B STUDIO. Each independent studio strives to continuously take on new challenges and leverage innovative technologies. Their goal is to win over more fans by broadening KRAFTON’s platforms and services.
KRAFTON is responsible for premier game IPs, including PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, PUBG MOBILE, inZOI, Subnautica, MIMESIS, Hi-Fi Rush, Dinkum, TERA, My Little Puppy, and more. With a passionate and driven team across the globe, KRAFTON is a tech-forward company with world-class development capabilities, continuously exploring new possibilities that enhance the gameplay experience — including AI and other emerging technologies.
About KRAFTON India
KRAFTON India is responsible for delivering premier mobile gaming experiences in the country, led by its flagship title BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI), which has surpassed 260 million downloads. Its diverse portfolio also includes titles such as Road To Valor: Empires, CookieRun India, and Real Cricket, catering to a wide spectrum of Indian gamers. KRAFTON India has also played a pivotal role in shaping the country’s esports landscape through marquee tournaments such as BGIS and BMPS, setting new benchmarks for development of grassroot talent, competitiveness, and fan engagement, while helping establish esports as a mainstream sporting and entertainment category in India. Beyond publishing games, KRAFTON India is committed to strengthening the digital entertainment ecosystem. Since 2021, the company has invested over $250 million in Indian startups across interactive entertainment, gaming, esports, and technology. Additionally, KRAFTON has also launched the ₹6,000 crore KRAFTON India Unicorn Growth Fund with Naver and Mirae Asset to support high-potential startups. The company also actively supports game development talent through the KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator (KIGI), currently in its fourth cohort, enabling emerging developers with funding, mentorship, and strategic guidance. Recently, KRAFTON launched the KIGI Academy, new industry-academia initiative designed to build India’s game development talent ecosystem, in association with IIT Madras.
