Krafton's independent studio Reloogames has had its technology recognised at Japan's largest developer conference with an artificial intelligence-based game it developed in-house.

Reloogames, a creative studio under Krafton, said on Thursday that its Mimesis won an excellence award in the game design category at the CEDEC Awards 2026. The win also made Mimesis a finalist for the top prize in the category.

The CEDEC Awards, hosted by Japan's Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), honours technology and developers selected for contributing to advances in game development technology. This is the first time a South Korean game has won an excellence award in the game design category, which evaluates planning capability and gameplay. The recognition is significant because it acknowledged innovation from integrating AI into an original in-house intellectual property rather than a major IP.

Mimesis is a four-player cooperative horror game combining AI technology. An AI-based NPC called Mimesis that mimics players' movements and voices in real time blends in among teammates to heighten tension, and the game presents the twist of its identity being revealed as a core source of fun, positioning itself as an "AI native game".

The game began from a prototype built by four developers on Oct. 2024 and was released in early access after 1 year of development. It later surpassed 1 million in cumulative global sales within 50 days of launch. That is the second title from Krafton to reach 1 million units sold on Steam, following the simulation game Inzoi.

Reloogames CEO Kim Min-jung (김민정) said, "Beyond the strong response from users, it is meaningful that we have proven Mimesis' unrivalled creativity and technology through a group of experts in Japan." She said, "We will continue to integrate AI as a core element of fun in games and consistently present new game experiences."