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NCSoft's AI division has completed development of 'VARCO 3D 2.0,' the next-generation model of its proprietary VARCO 3D platform. / Courtesy of NCSoft

NCSoft’s AI division announced on June 24 that it has completed development of "VARCO 3D 2.0," the next-generation model of its generative AI service that creates high-quality 3D assets from text or images. The update significantly upgrades the performance of the baseline model by incorporating user feedback and in-house research milestones achieved since the platform's initial launch in December last year.

The defining strength of VARCO 3D 2.0 lies in its technological refinement, having drastically mitigated original shape distortion—a flaw widely considered the Achilles' heel of 3D generative AI. While the recent surge in demand for 3D data has thrust generative AI into the spotlight as a tool for quick and accessible asset creation, conventional models have frequently suffered from severe structural warping or the collapse of fine details when translating flat source material.

In contrast, VARCO 3D 2.0 faithfully preserves the silhouette and overall proportions of the source image while accurately reproducing intricate ornaments and complex sub-structures. Even highly complicated subjects like characters, fantasy creatures, and architectural assets can be generated with precision without losing the artist’s original design intent, promising high utility on real-world content production floors.

This performance leap is backed by objective metrics. VARCO 3D 2.0 scored 0.449 on Uni3D, a leading benchmark that evaluates shape similarity, marking a roughly 40.8% improvement over its previous 1.1 version (0.319). This score outpaces leading global open-source models, including Trellis2 (0.436), Ultrashape (0.428), and Hunyuan3D 2.1 (0.427). The system also clinched top honors on other vital benchmarks like CLIP-N and ULIP-2, proving its state-of-the-art (SOTA) competitiveness on the global stage.

Visual fidelity has received an equally massive overhaul. Supporting high-resolution textures up to 4K, the engine realistically renders the colors and lighting of the source image alongside the authentic material textures of metal, wood, micro-surface patterns, and weathered effects. With these upgrades, the platform delivers immediately deployable assets that transcend gaming and entertainment to meet the rigorous demands of industrial simulations and high-fidelity 3D modeling.

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Comparison of major benchmark performance metrics alongside actual 3D generation outputs. / Courtesy of NCSoft

The distinct edge of VARCO 3D is equally pronounced in its actual generation outputs. Side-by-side comparisons with leading global 3D generative AI services—such as Hunyuan, Meshy, and Tripo—reveal a sharp differentiation across shape retention, fine detailing, and texture quality. Most notably, the model crisply reconstructs complex structures that typically suffer from warping or blurring in other systems, while faithfully preserving the depth of subtle textures and three-dimensional skeletal frames to deliver an asset fidelity akin to real-world sculptures.

NCSoft's AI division plans to cultivate VARCO 3D as a cornerstone technology for powering physical AI and digital twins. The company explained that while physical AI requires massive volumes of 3D data mirroring the exact shapes and material properties of real-world objects to learn about the physical environment, VARCO 3D can drastically compress this data acquisition timeline.

According to the firm, the platform can generate 3D assets in as little as three minutes—a process that conventionally took professional artists roughly four weeks—slashing both time and overhead costs. Consequently, the engine is poised to serve as a foundational technology that accelerates digital transformation and digital twin deployments across diverse industry verticals, including manufacturing, construction, and defense.

Furthermore, it is highly significant that NCSoft has advanced a proprietary foundation model using native technology in a global 3D generative AI market currently dominated by U.S. and Chinese tech titans. This milestone is evaluated as a major contribution to securing South Korea's AI sovereignty and technological independence, as it reduces reliance on foreign systems and allows for more secure management of sensitive, proprietary data.

The VARCO 3D 2.0 model is slated for deployment on the VARCO 3D SaaS platform this coming July. The rollout will introduce a suite of new features alongside the upgraded shape retention and high-fidelity texturing capabilities. Existing subscribers will be able to experience the enhanced power of the 2.0 version seamlessly within their current service environments without any additional migration procedures.

Lee Yeon-soo, head of NCSoft's AI division, stated, "With its unrivaled shape retention and high-quality texture rendering, VARCO 3D 2.0 will revolutionize the real-world production pipelines for content creators." She added, "Beyond securing data privacy and technological self-reliance through our independent AI model, we are committed to scaling this platform into a core infrastructure that anchors the era of physical AI and digital twins."

                                                                                                           Kim Young-jin