Companies continue to enhance the immersive capabilities of the metaverse. With the power of AI, one gaming company is making non-player characters (NPCs) in Web3 games and digital worlds more lifelike.
Inworld AI announced Tuesday a $50 million Series A investment to bring interactive, AI-driven characters to the metaverse, gaming, entertainment and brand experiences industries. The funding was co-led by Section 32 and Intel Capital with participation from 12 other investors, including Founders Fund, Accelerator Investments, First Spark Ventures and Kleiner Perkins.
Traditional NPC interactions in virtual worlds rely on scripted dialogue, limiting what characters can say and react to. Inworld AI wants to broaden the horizon of what interactions NPCs are capable of by developing advanced, AI-driven characters whose personalities and behaviors mimic human interactions.
“In the last year, we’ve seen research that shows that online relationships can be as meaningful as those formed in real life. With Inworld, you can create gaming NPCs, native populations for virtual worlds, virtual influencers, brand representatives, in-world guides and digital humans that can forge relationships with users and unlock deeper engagement,” Inworld CEO Ilya Gelfenbeyn said in a statement. “This is the future of entertainment — stories that are told through characters with a rich inner life that audiences are invited to participate in, and take immersion to the next level.”
The platform uses a no-code studio, allowing users to create characters customized to their needs more easily. It also integrates with popular game engines like Unreal and Unity, making character deployment a smaller lift for game developers.
This new funding comes after a period of growth in the company’s first year of operation. So far, Inworld has raised $70 million in total capital between the recent Series A and earlier pre-seed and seed rounds. Since its seed round, the company has launched its beta product and hired Academy Award winner John Gaeta as CCO. Inworld was also selected to join Disney’s 2022 Accelerator program.
