What is Nvidia ACE? The AI tech turning NPCs into 'living' characters

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In-game characters will be different with ACE

Video game character powered by Nvidia ACE
(Image credit: Nvidia)

AI has been a driving force in evolving PC gaming for a good while now, most notably with Nvidia DLSS 4.5 upscaling resolution and delivering frame generation. But how about in the games we actually play? Enter: Nvidia ACE.

Nvidia's suite of AI tech is made to bring another level of immersion to in-game characters, effectively bringing these non-playable characters (NPCs) to "life" using small AI models — instead of pre-written or recorded scripts. So, less repetitive "and then I took an arrow in the knee" and more dynamic, natural conversation.

Now, Nvidia ACE could turn out in one of two ways. First, we could see it being used in games like Where Winds Meet for real-time, free-text conversations with NPCs (with it talking itself into a loop), or in more creative, subtle ways. It's up to game developers, and that's what makes Team Green's set of AI tools interesting — and it could redefine more games as we know them.

What is Nvidia ACE?

Total War: Pharaoh

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Nvidia ACE (Avatar Cloud Engine) is a set of real-time AI technologies designed for game developers to build autonomous game characters. It's divided into a collection of AI microservices (Nvidia NIMS) to help developers provide speech recognition, reasoning, animation, and body language to in-game NPCs, and this can be used in a variety of ways.

So, instead of relying on pre-recorded scripts and static animations, ACE allows characters in games and applications to hear, understand, and respond to players dynamically using natural language. This is done through cloud and on-device AI models, but on a smaller scale (so it doesn't set any GPUs on fire).

In fact, it's not unlike Nvidia Project R2X, the RTX-powered AI avatar that helps developers and enthusiasts with PC tasks autonomously. But instead of on-device tasks, ACE is used to power characters in games.

NVIDIA ACE | Master Total War: PHARAOH with an In-Game AI Advisor - YouTube NVIDIA ACE | Master Total War: PHARAOH with an In-Game AI Advisor - YouTube
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A fine example of this is when I saw it in action during a demo of developer Creative Assembly's Total War: Pharaoh. This turn-based strategy real-time tactics game uses an in-game AI advisor to aid you in commanding armies, managing economies, and dealing with diplomacy. Using AI models, this "advisor" can retrieve key information to help with whatever question you ask.

With this in mind, you can ask the AI advisor what to do in certain situations. As pointed out in the demo, this includes questioning why a rebellion has broken out in a province. In this case, the advisor noted that it was due to "Happiness" levels falling.

As someone who is completely useless at strategy games such as these, that's a quick, intuitive way to know exactly what's happening, especially while you're dealing with every other task in the game. What's more, you can then ask how to restore these "Happiness" levels, with the AI advisor guiding you towards the solution.

Of course, if you don't need to use it, you don't have to. In the case of games like Total War, developers integrating Nvidia ACE can not only help players who are stuck, especially if they're picking up where they left off after a couple of months not playing it, but also for those who aren't familiar with this genre of gaming.

Use with care

Nvidia ACE

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Nvidia ACE is a handy set of tools that, when used correctly, can change how we approach different games. No, I don't think it will completely take over gaming as we know it; there are single-player titles like the ground-breaking Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Death Stranding 2 that have a particular story to be told, and changing dialogue through AI wouldn't deliver the same emotional impact.

However, when it comes to titles like Total War and other upcoming games like Dead Meat, a murder mystery game that uses ACE so players can interrogate suspects about anything, it's a whole new level of immersion. It's not AI trying to force its way into titles where it doesn't fit — on the contrary, it's simply adding to it.

That is, of course, if developers incorporate Nvidia ACE in a way that benefits a title. We're seeing AI in action in more games these days, including getting roasted by an AI Snoop Dogg in Amazon Luna's Courtroom Chaos: Starring Snoop Dogg, and so far, they've been a heap of fun.

How else will Nvidia ACE be used in gaming? That's for developers to decide, and hopefully, having AI NPCs (used correctly) will elevate the games we play — not detract from them.

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Darragh Murphy
Darragh Murphy
Computing Editor

Darragh is Tom’s Guide’s Computing Editor and is fascinated by all things bizarre in tech. His work can be seen in Laptop Mag, Mashable, Android Police, Shortlist Dubai, Proton, theBit.nz, ReviewsFire and more. When he's not checking out the latest devices and all things computing, he can be found going for dreaded long runs, watching terrible shark movies and trying to find time to game

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