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OpenAI hosted its first gaming-focused hackathon, “OpenAI Game Builders Seoul,” in Seoul on August 31. Forty teams developed games using the coding agent Codex and integrated Com2uS’s Hive backend to implement launch and operations features. Song Jae-kyung, former CEO of XLGames, revealed that his solo-developed MMORPG “OpenMMO” achieved a 24-fold increase in content production compared to the development of Lineage. Com2uS unveiled “Hive Axyl,” an AI-friendly development and operations platform, while South Korean developers including Kim Dae-hwon of Abutton and Ban Seung-chul of Second Dive shared their AI adoption results and emphasized the enduring importance of human judgment. OpenAI plans to expand the event to Japan, the United States, and Europe following the Seoul launch.
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OpenAI held its first hackathon specializing in game development in Seoul. South Korea’s first-generation game developers took the stage in large numbers to share their hands-on experience using the AI coding agent “Codex,” while Com2uS introduced a new platform that connects AI-built games all the way through launch and operations.
The “OpenAI Game Builders Seoul” event, held on August 31 at Wirye Graphene in Seoul, brought 40 teams that passed online qualifiers to the main competition. Participants developed games directly with Codex, then integrated Com2uS Holdings‘ backend service “Hive” to implement features required for actual service, including login, payments, user analytics, and security.
Song Jae-kyung, former CEO of XLGames and creator of “The Kingdom of the Winds” and “Lineage,” compared AI to the power loom of the Industrial Revolution in his keynote address. “When fabric is being woven at several meters per second, handmade cloth alone has its limits,” he said, stressing that AI adoption is now an irreversible tide.
Song presented concrete productivity figures using his solo development project “OpenMMO” as an example. Compared to developing The Kingdom of the Winds, code output increased 8-fold; compared to Lineage development, content production rose 24-fold. “The content that eight people spent two years creating in the early days of Lineage, I built alone in eight months with AI for OpenMMO,” he said.
He also detailed his development process in depth. He created concept art with ChatGPT, 3D modeling with Meshy AI, animations with Mixamo, and music with Suno. “Even in areas where I’m not an expert — 3D programming, physics simulators — Codex will write the code on its own if you ask,” Song said. “Honestly, at my age, I might have been sitting at home unable to code at all, but AI has made solo development possible.”
He predicted that AI can also solve structural limitations of MMORPGs. “One of the biggest problems with MMORPGs is that every user wants to be the protagonist,” he explained. “Currently, only a handful of high-spending users on a server can experience that, but with AI, we can give every user the feeling of being the hero.” AI can be deployed to play alongside users in underpopulated areas or time slots, and events and relationships can be dynamically generated within gameplay.
Com2uS introduced “Hive Axyl,” an AI-friendly app development and operations platform, at the event. Set for release in the third quarter of this year, the platform lets Codex connect software development kits (SDKs) and backend functions, providing everything needed for game development and operations — authentication, payments, push notifications, mailboxes, analytics, and server development. Projects generated through plugins include the basic server architecture and development, build, and deployment environments.
Song Byung-joon, chairman of Com2uS, said, “We are in an era where a single developer can build a game. If AI changes how games are made, the way we launch and service them must change too.” Choi Seok-won, CEO of Com2uS Platform, emphasized, “Hive doesn’t want to end at the moment you finish making your game — we want to be with you until that game goes out into the world and meets players.”
Key developers from South Korea’s gaming industry also shared their AI adoption results. Kim Dae-hwon, CEO of Abutton, which developed “Zeus: God of Arrogance” published by Com2uS, presented figures showing the changes since adopting coding agents in January 2026. In the two years before adoption, the team completed roughly 11,000 development issues; since adoption through this month, completed issues surpassed 14,000. “In the past, building an action game prototype required about six months and 13 to 15 people. Now, a small number of director-level staff who understand each discipline can produce a prototype of considerable quality,” he said.
Kim also stressed the changing role of developers. “AI has shortened the distance from a good idea to a concrete design that can be evaluated,” he said. “The role of the PD should now be performed by every developer, not just planners.”
Ban Seung-chul, CEO of Second Dive, developer of the mobile RPGs “Dark Avenger” and “Ares” with over 100 million cumulative downloads worldwide, said AI automation reduced data work time to one-tenth of previous levels. The share of simple data tasks in overall work dropped to about 10%, allowing roughly 90% of time to be spent verifying fun and polish, while overall work processing speed improved 3.5-fold.
However, he cautioned, “Because this data is actually applied to live games, we did not entrust final verification and approval to AI. Even with cross-verification, the final judgment rests with humans. The choice of balance determines a game’s fun, so the human perspective is irreplaceable — and responsibility for outcomes remains with people.”
Kim Yong-ha, executive PD at Nexon Games and creator of “Blue Archive,” emphasized that human developers’ taste becomes even more important in the AI era. “AI has no taste of its own and is clumsy at evaluating fun or emotional impact on its own,” he said. “In fact, at a game jam held by our division, the first-place winner among 48 submissions was a game that ‘deliciously’ brought a very niche concept to life.” He advised, “Remember that AI’s output ultimately depends on how well humans steer it and how well individual taste is reflected.”
Oliver Jay, managing director at OpenAI, said in a video message, “The distance between the moment an idea comes to mind and the moment you confirm it actually works is getting shorter and shorter. For people developing games with AI, taste, ideas, and the willingness to try something different are becoming more important.” On South Korea’s gaming industry, he remarked, “Few places have advanced games as far as Korea has — from online games to esports to virtual worlds.”
Song Bo-young, founder of Artue, who led the overall planning of the event, said, “I want to thank Korea’s legendary developers for sharing their Codex game development know-how. Starting with this event in Korea, we will expand Game Builders to Japan next month, and then to the United States, Europe, and many other countries to help the gaming industry apply AI technology efficiently.”
YouTuber Kim Gyeran drew attention as both a hackathon participant and host. He showcased “Only Squat,” an exercise game that recognizes user movementsame that lets people exercise naturally.”
Codex is the coding agent OpenAI unveiled in May of last year. When users describe desired features in natural language, it performs software development tasks such as writing and modifying code. As of August this year, the combined weekly active users of ChatGPT Work and Codex surpassed 20 million.
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