A new MMO that just launched in early access is making waves for using thousands of persistent AI NPCs that live, work, and continue to build their society 24/7, even when players log off.
As shared by 80.LV, SEED is an ambitious simulation game developed by Berlin-based game studio Klang Games that gives players the chance to create worlds and manage a bustling population of citizens (known as Seedlings). The game uses a custom-built inference pipeline to give in-game characters a new level of autonomy and the ability to live independently of their creator.
Built by former EVE Online developers, SEED has been in development for years and aims to bring the expansive social systems of the former game to a much wider audience. EVE Online is well known as a single-shard, fully player-driven sandbox, where any action taken in-game affects the wider society. It has no servers, only one “universe”, meaning players are in control of complex economic systems like market supply and demand.
In a previous interview with DualShockers, Klang Games CCO Ívar Emilsson shared that the team wanted to emulate the fallibility of humans in their Seedlings. He said: “We are not trying to optimize some algorithm that makes the perfect human. We are trying to simulate human beings. We are very imperfect. I think the imperfection is something that we want to lean into.”
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SEED Solves The Problem of MMO “Ghost Towns”
For traditional MMOs, the thing that has brought life to their worlds is the player: they are the conduit through which characters explore, systems operate, and the clock begins ticking again. Most developers feel that they can emulate this “life” by making their in-game worlds larger and more detailed. But for Klang Games CEO Mundi Vondi, he believes the key is the autonomy his studio affords to their NPC characters.
He said in an interview that the team became inspired to create a world where “every character continued living around the clock” so that “player-built cities wouldn’t become ghost towns whenever people logged off.”
That’s exactly what seems to happen in SEED, as Seedlings continue their lives even when the player is offline. They will pursue romantic relationships, start families, hunt for new jobs, and work hard to thrive in the universe created by the player’s hand. All of this is driven by Google’s open-source Gemma model, customized by Klang to suit the simulation title and store each character’s own life story independently.
All of this is driven by Google’s open-source Gemma model, customized by Klang to suit the simulation title and store each character’s own life story independently.
Key to this autonomy is the Knowledge Graph, which is unique to all Seedlings and allows them to develop their own memories and understanding of the world around them. It can also lead to drama and conflict among Seedlings–like humans, every individual holds their own perspective on in-world events which may not agree with the opinions of others.
These discrepancies in understanding can lead to problems too. According to Vondi, one in-game example of this occurred when one Seedling maliciously told another that his mother had died–when she really hadn’t. When the seemingly orphaned Seedling later encountered his mother, alive and unharmed, the AI was able to decipher the contradiction, realize the deception, and form a negative opinion of the liar.
This asymmetry among Seedlings allows the team to create “really convincing narratives,” says Vondi, as characters begin to “connect the dots themselves” about what is happening and how their life is being affected.
In a preview for DualShockers, Scott Baird said: “The ambition of SEED is off the scale… The Seedlings in SEED blend the best aspects of The Sims characters with an MMO protagonist, allowing the player to guide their growth but never fully control it.”
Emergent Drama and Player-Driven Economies
The complexity of this system means much larger events can occur, far more world-altering than a simple lie about a deceased mother. Because Seedlings can earn salaries, spend money, and support businesses while players are offline, things can change pretty fast when compared to regular MMOs.
If the player builds a restaurant, usually no one will go unless commanded by their all-powerful god. In SEED, characters patronize the businesses they are interested in and go willingly, whether it be a restaurant, cinema, or gym. Everything is designed to work organically like real society–if a business doesn’t get customers or make enough revenue, it will collapse.
Vondi shared that in one playtest, a player took over the world’s bread market by purchasing every in-game loaf and reselling it at a huge markup. In response to the player’s actions, the in-game government built hundreds more bread factories, which were subsequently bought up by the player. With little choice left, the president imposed a massive bread tax to break the player’s grip on the market–but this move was so unpopular with Seedlings that the president was ousted from power.
With this kind of unique system, Vondi believes that SEED will appeal to players who have never picked up an MMO in their life. To be in control of the lives of thousands, and see the consequences of every action… now that is power.
SEED is available now in early access on PC and Mac.
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Systems
Released
2026
Developer(s)
Klang Games
Publisher(s)
Klang Games
Number of Players
Single-player