Autodesk has announced that developers NCSoft, Webzen and Gravity are using Autodesk's 3D modeling, animation and rendering software in the development of their upcoming MMO titles -- AION, Huxley and Ragnarok Online II, respectively.

NCSoft plans to launch AION, a fantasy flying combat and role-playing game in 2008, and are developing its asset creation pipeline using Autodesk 3ds Max. According to Autodesk, Webzen is employing Autodesk 3ds and Autodesk Maya for the multiplayer shooter Huxley, just as it did on its previously-released Soul of the Ultimate Nation.

In addition to its upcoming MMO titles Requiem Online, Pucca Racing and W-Baseball, Gravity is also using Autodesk tools for the upcoming sequel to major Korean MMO Ragnarok Online, Ragnarok Online II. The company says it will feature full-3D graphics and sophisticated character expressions in place of the bubble emotes featured in the first Ragnarok game.

Park Young Woo, Ragnarok Online II producer at Gravity, said that using 3ds Max helped in his goal of creating "cute yet extremely expressive and natural facial animations" for the game characters.

NCSoft art director Kim Hyung Joon also noted the broad penetration of 3ds Max internationally: "As well, the 3ds Max software's pervasiveness makes it easier for me to recruit new artists, since there's a large 3ds Max talent pool in Korea and around the world."

"Online games have become a major part of Korea's entertainment culture, and Korea is a hotbed for game development innovation," said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media and Entertainment. "We've seen an explosion of massively multiplayer online games in the past five years."