AI Dungeon maker Latitude has unveiled Voyage, a platform for creating AI-powered RPGs

If you’ve ever played an RPG, you know how much fun it is to create your character in any way you choose and embark on epic adventures. Now, imagine an AI-powered text-based RPG, where every interaction with a non-player character (NPC) is completely unscripted.

Latitude, the startup known for its open-ended text adventure games featuring AI-generated “endless stories,” recently unveiled its new platform that allows users to step into the role of game designers.

The AI-based RPG platform, called Voyage, allows players to design their own game worlds with the help of artificial intelligence. Players can describe their settings, including details such as regions, cities, landmarks, main quests, and villains. They can also create game mechanics such as abilities, leveling systems, and combat challenges.

For example, if you want to create a fishing village haunted by a sea monster, the AI ​​will generate the code necessary to bring that idea to life. You can further customize your world before sharing it with others to play.

For players, the Voyage platform offers a range of experiences across different genres, from relaxed adventures to more challenging quests. Since it’s text-based, players read the story (with voice narration available) and write how they want their character to act.

Unlike traditional RPGs, if a character is facing a goblin attack, instead of the typical options of running, fighting, or hiding, players can choose unique scenarios such as becoming a goblin wizard, helping the creatures solve their problems instead of resorting to violence.

When players input the actions they want, the AI ​​narrates the outcome, including how the NPCs will respond. Since there is no fixed script, interactions can veer in unexpected directions, often leading to surprising and sometimes awkward conversations. For example, during the test, the troll who profiled our character started talking about his marital problems.

Meanwhile, character progression depends on the character’s skills and a little luck, just like rolling dice in board games. Each character can also unlock special abilities while defeating bosses or completing quests, such as using “Counterspell” to prevent an enemy from using magic. (Many of the abilities in Voyage are inspired by classic Dungeons & Dragons spells, which is fun!)

And if players find themselves stuck, there is a chatbot available to suggest actions or even jump to different parts of the story.

At the heart of Voyage is Latitude’s global engine, a system that took the company five years to develop. This engine makes use of multiple AI systems that can narrate events, manage gameplay, track characters and objects, and remember backstories and relationships, ensuring continuity throughout the game. So, instead of generic NPCs with recurring lines, players encounter characters who remember past interactions. For example, if you betray a character’s trust, they may choose to avoid you or become your rival in future encounters.

“The characters are not just reacting to you, but they have their own backstory, interacting with you in ways that feel real, and that’s really part of the magic of the engine,” Nick Walton, CEO and co-founder of Latitude, told TechCrunch.

Latitude first revolutionized the world of AI gaming with the launch of AI Dungeon in 2019, which attracted millions of players.

“This idea exploded on the Internet as one of the first times people interacted with generative AI,” Walton said. “This kind of demonstrated the initial promise of what would happen if we had games and worlds that weren’t all predetermined, and weren’t all scripted… Voyage takes that basic concept and expands it 10-fold from a single AI model to a full world with deterministic systems and challenges and progression and persistence, and it solves all the problems that I think AI Dungeon couldn’t solve on its own.”

Voyage is currently undergoing extensive beta testing, and is scheduled to launch an open beta later this year. The platform has seen early testers interact with over 160,000 unique AI-generated characters, each with distinct personalities. The average player made approximately 3,000 game choices.

Alongside the launch announcement, Latitude announced a partnership with Google’s AI Futures Fund. The platform combines its own models with third-party models such as Google’s Gemini Flash for image creation and Gemma for text, audio and video.

Additionally, Craig Donato, former chief business officer of Roblox, has joined as an investor and board member. Other notable investors include VC album, Griffin Gaming Partners, Midjourney, and NFX.

Voyage is free to play but will soon be offering subscription plans at $15, $30, and $50. These plans will provide advanced AI features and remove restrictions on the number of actions players can take.

It’s also important to note that while the platform is suitable for all ages, some experiences include adult content, which Walton says is similar to what you might find on Steam. He adds that Voyage implements safety measures and parental controls to help users filter out inappropriate material.