Source: Nexon

Nexon announced on the 9th that the 2026 Nexon Developers Conference (NDC 26), its platform for sharing game development knowledge, is just one week away. The event will feature developers from the Nexon Company, including Embark Studios, who will share their experiences in developing and servicing live games. Industry professionals from domestic and international game and IT companies will also join as speakers to broaden the scope of knowledge exchange.

This year's event will be particularly vibrant, with a variety of side programs including a game art exhibition and outdoor music performances, filling the area around the Nexon headquarters and enlivening the Pangyo district.

Developers from Embark Studios, the Nexon subsidiary behind several global hits, will be attending NDC 26 in person. They will provide vivid accounts of the real-world challenges, solutions, and lessons learned while creating games like ARC Raiders and THE FINALS, covering fields from machine learning and data to visual art.

The session 'Machine Learning Implementation - The Case of Embark Games' will share the technical challenges, organizational trial and error, and achievements encountered while applying machine learning to game development. 'The Art Content Production of ARC Raiders' will cover the know-how behind building automation pipelines for environment and character art to complete large-scale titles with a small, elite team. Finally, 'data@embark - How we track and analyze every bullet fired in our games' will introduce data operation methodologies for collecting and analyzing massive amounts of game data in real-time to optimize balancing and matchmaking.

Many behind-the-scenes stories regarding the development and operation of popular live games serviced by Nexon will also be shared. The session 'Oops, I Slipped and Skipped It - A Production Log of Mabinogi Mobile's Main Quest in the Era of Short-form Content' will discuss the difficulties faced during quest production and how they were refined based on user feedback. 'Blue Archive Post - Mortem - From a Game Director's Perspective' will offer an honest look at the successes and failures from the start of development through the early days of the live service, as the game celebrates its 5th anniversary.

In addition, a wide range of sessions will provide insights into the development and operation of other Nexon titles enjoyed by users worldwide, such as The First Descendant, MapleStory Worlds, and MapleStory M, allowing attendees to explore industry-wide challenges and solutions for live services in one place.

Beyond Nexon developers, the conference will feature experts from the global IT and game industries sharing diverse perspectives. A director from Google DeepMind will reveal AGI research strategies that use games as training environments to help AI agents and world models evolve together. Meanwhile, Roblox Korea will introduce its UGC-based creator ecosystem, showcasing a collaboration model where game companies officially open their IP to Roblox creators and share revenue.

Other industry experts, including the director of the globally renowned indie game RimWorld, a VP from KRAFTON, and the head of SE at Snowflake Korea, will participate in panel discussions, offering sharp insights and a deep understanding of the industry landscape.

NDC 26 will also host 'NEXTAGE,' a game art exhibition based on Nexon IP, held on the first and second floors of the Nexon headquarters in Pangyo. This marks the first time in seven years, since 2019, that the NDC art exhibition has been fully opened to the public offline. The exhibition will feature a total of 150 works by artists from the Nexon Company, ranging from pieces created during actual project development to fan art reflecting their passion for Nexon IP. Visitors can enjoy not only familiar in-game artwork but also pieces showcasing the artists' imagination and creativity through digital illustrations, sculptures, and videos.

The exhibition will also feature a special sound showcase with contributions from sound artists at Nexon Korea, NeoPle, and Nexon Games. Through spaces where visitors can experience environmental sounds that enhance game immersion, as well as content detailing the sound production process, attendees can gain a more three-dimensional understanding of how game audio is created. Additionally, the 'NDC Music & Talk Concert' will be held on the nearby Pangyo Content Street during the event, offering attendees stories about creativity, entertainment, and a space to relax.

Kang Hee-won, head of the NDC secretariat at Nexon, stated, As NDC has grown beyond an internal knowledge-sharing event into a gathering for the domestic and international game and IT industries, we hope this year will be a meaningful opportunity for the industry to grow together by generously sharing valuable insights and reflections gained in the field. We look forward to a significant time of sharing experiences and inspiration both inside and outside the lecture halls.