NC AI said on March 13 it is pursuing a strategy to build a virtuous-cycle game development ecosystem based on its Varco Game AI service, linking game production, market validation and publishing.

The core of the strategy is to build a structured support system that raises production efficiency for smaller developers and lowers barriers to market entry. NC AI said it has prepared various institutional benefits to ease the financial burden that small and indie game developers, constrained by capital and manpower, face at the initial stage of entering the market.

First, it will provide marketing support in the form of incentives when games developed using Varco Game AI are formally launched on the App Store and major platforms. It said the strategy is intended to help developers establish a stable foothold in the market by providing marketing resources needed to secure early users and spread awareness of the game.

It said games that achieve meaningful results after launch will be offered strengthened support, including opportunities for in-depth market tests using NCSoft's Mobile Casual Center. The company aims to raise game quality further by providing a test environment and analytical capabilities that individual developers would find difficult to carry out on their own, based on game operations data and analysis know-how accumulated by NC.

The final step in building the ecosystem is to review the possibility of publishing cooperation with NC for strong projects. It said games that prove market competitiveness through market tests will, after a separate internal review, gain opportunities for strategic partnerships that allow them to use NC's global publishing capabilities and marketing infrastructure.

Yeon-su Lee (이연수), chief executive of NC AI, said, "As the game development environment changes rapidly, it is becoming more important to expand opportunities for developers with creative ideas to challenge the market." He added, "Based on Varco Game AI, we will create an environment where developers can reduce the burden of the production process and focus on experimentation and challenges, and we will build a sustainable game development ecosystem."