KRAFTON is rolling out the PUBG Ally Duo beta for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, giving players a fresh way to survive Sanhok without trusting a random teammate who loots your gear and vanishes into a bush.
Launching globally on 17 June, Ally Duo is a new Arcade mode where players team up with Ella, an AI companion powered by PUBG Ally. The beta runs until 1 July and supports voice interaction in Korean, Chinese, and English.
As per the press release, Ally Duo forms a two-player team between the player and Ella on the Sanhok map. Players can speak to Ella using voice commands, working together on movement, item collection, and strategy during matches.
PUBG Ally brings AI co-op to the battlegrounds
Ella is built on PUBG Ally, KRAFTON’s AI technology for what it calls a Co-Playable Character, or CPC. Unlike a standard NPC, Ella is designed to play alongside human players rather than simply follow fixed behaviours.
The tech runs on an on-device small language model built on NVIDIA ACE. It uses speech-to-text and text-to-speech tools so Ella can understand voice commands and respond in real time.
That means Ella can react quickly to simple actions, such as movement and picking up items. However, she can also use in-game context and conversation flow for bigger decisions, like planning a strategy. Basically, she is not just standing there waiting for the next scripted bark.
Kangwook Lee, Chief AI Officer at KRAFTON, said Ally Duo is “an early step toward exploring how AI companions can create new ways to play.” He added that KRAFTON is looking forward to player feedback during the beta.
A two-week PUBG Ally beta with global player feedback
The PUBG Ally Duo beta runs globally from 17 June to 1 July. During that period, KRAFTON will gather player feedback from different regions and use it to refine the technology.
SangKyun Kim, Head of PUBG Development, said PUBG Ally could create new opportunities for creators through different types of gameplay, interactions, and storytelling moments. He also said the team plans to keep introducing new modes that bring fresh fun to PUBG players.
KRAFTON says it remains focused on using AI to deliver different gameplay experiences. In April, the company unveiled four multimodal AI models under the Raon brand family. Going forward, it plans to fine-tune those models for individual games.
For now, though, PUBG players can see how well Ella handles the chaos of Sanhok. Hopefully, she pings better than your usual duo partner.