# NitroGen: An Open Foundation Model for Generalist Gaming Agents

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02427 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.02427/

## Key facts

- Cited by 27 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Reinforcement learning for LLM agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 42 of its 54 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 4 Jan 2026.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [Reinforcement learning for LLM agents](https://mlsanity.com/agents/reinforcement-learning-for-llm-agents/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 42)

- [BERT: Pre-training of Deep Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.04805/) (2018)
- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [Scalable Diffusion Models with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.09748/) (2022)
- [Flow Matching for Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.02747/) (2022)
- [Playing Atari with Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1312.5602/) (2013)
- [SegFormer: Simple and Efficient Design for Semantic Segmentation with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.15203/) (2021)
- [OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09246/) (2024)
- [π0: A Vision-Language-Action Flow Model for General Robot Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.24164/) (2024)
- [Do As I Can, Not As I Say: Grounding Language in Robotic Affordances](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.01691/) (2022)
- [Voyager: An Open-Ended Embodied Agent with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16291/) (2023)
- [PaLM-E: An Embodied Multimodal Language Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.03378/) (2023)
- [RT-1: Robotics Transformer for Real-World Control at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.06817/) (2022)
- [Octo: An Open-Source Generalist Robot Policy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.12213/) (2024)
- [Mastering Diverse Domains through World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.04104/) (2023)
- [GR00T N1: An Open Foundation Model for Generalist Humanoid Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.14734/) (2025)
- [Code as Policies: Language Model Programs for Embodied Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.07753/) (2022)
- [SigLIP 2: Multilingual Vision-Language Encoders with Improved Semantic Understanding, Localization, and Dense Features](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.14786/) (2025)
- [Dota 2 with Large Scale Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.06680/) (2019)
- [Inner Monologue: Embodied Reasoning through Planning with Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.05608/) (2022)
- [Open X-Embodiment: Robotic Learning Datasets and RT-X Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.08864/) (2023)
- [Genie: Generative Interactive Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.15391/) (2024)
- [ProgPrompt: Generating Situated Robot Task Plans using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.11302/) (2022)
- [MineDojo: Building Open-Ended Embodied Agents with Internet-Scale Knowledge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.08853/) (2022)
- [AgiBot World Colosseo: A Large-scale Manipulation Platform for Scalable and Intelligent Embodied Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.06669/) (2025)
- [Describe, Explain, Plan and Select: Interactive Planning with Large Language Models Enables Open-World Multi-Task Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.01560/) (2023)
- [Video PreTraining (VPT): Learning to Act by Watching Unlabeled Online Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.11795/) (2022)
- [TinyVLA: Towards Fast, Data-Efficient Vision-Language-Action Models for Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.12514/) (2024)
- [Latent Action Pretraining from Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.11758/) (2024)
- [GR-2: A Generative Video-Language-Action Model with Web-Scale Knowledge for Robot Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.06158/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 27 of 27)

- [Agentic World Modeling: Foundations, Capabilities, Laws, and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.22748/) (2026)
- [SCOPE: Simulating Cross-game Operations in Playable Environments for FPS World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.23345/) (2026)
- [AI Gamestore: Scalable, Open-Ended Evaluation of Machine General Intelligence with Human Games](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.17594/) (2026)
- [Prisma-World: Camera-Controllable Multi-Agent Video World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.09507/) (2026)
- [GameVerse: Can Vision-Language Models Learn from Video-based Reflection?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.06656/) (2026)
- [Hallucination in World Models is Predictable and Preventable](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.27326/) (2026)
- [OmniGameArena: A Unified UE5 Benchmark for VLM Game Agents with Improvement Dynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.09826/) (2026)
- [SPEAR: A Simulator for Photorealistic Embodied AI Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.06701/) (2026)
- [Can Vision-Language Models Solve the Shell Game?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.08436/) (2026)
- [Odysseus: Scaling VLMs to 100+ Turn Decision-Making in Games via Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.00347/) (2026)
- [Towards Generalist Game Players: An Investigation of Foundation Models in the Game Multiverse](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.09965/) (2026)
- [SPIKE: An Adaptive Dual Controller Framework for Cost-Efficient Long-Horizon Game Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.18636/) (2026)
- [WorldMind: Decoupled Game World Model for State-Aware NPC Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.21439/) (2026)
- [AI for Games in the Foundation Model Era](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.16679/) (2026)
- [Scalable Environments Drive Generalizable Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.18181/) (2026)
- [Using Cognitive Models to Improve Language Model Simulation of Human Persuasion Games](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.17657/) (2026)
- [Do multimodal models imagine electric sheep?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.09693/) (2026)
- [Multi-agent Framework for Time-Sensitive Complementary Collaboration in Minecraft](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.15684/) (2026)
- [PonderPounce: A Pretrained MLLM as an Episode Context Engine for Robot Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.24115/) (2026)
- [GROW: Aligning GRPO with State-Action Modeling for Open-World VLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.20246/) (2026)
- [Augmenting Game AI with Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.20210/) (2026)
- [DreamForge-World 0.1 Preview: A Low-Compute Real-Time Controllable World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.30292/) (2026)
- [Cortex: Compact Behavior Cloning for Quake with Frozen Visual Features](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.22739/) (2026)
- [GameHorizon Suite: Multi-Horizon Data and Evaluation in Gameplay](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.25001/) (2026)
- [PUBG Ally: A Conversational Embodied Agent as an AI Teammate](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.29837/) (2026)
- [Esports World Model Dataset](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.16166/) (2026)
- [Player-1: Learning to Play from Synthetic Experience](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.20584/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce NitroGen, a vision-action foundation model for generalist gaming agents that is trained on 40,000 hours of gameplay videos across more than 1,000 games. We incorporate three key ingredients: 1) an internet-scale video-action dataset constructed by automatically extracting player actions from publicly available gameplay videos, 2) a multi-game benchmark environment that can measure cross-game generalization, and 3) a unified vision-action model trained with large-scale behavior cloning. NitroGen exhibits strong competence across diverse domains, including combat encounters in 3D action games, high-precision control in 2D platformers, and exploration in procedurally generated worlds. It transfers effectively to unseen games, achieving up to 52% relative improvement in task success rates over models trained from scratch. We release the dataset, evaluation suite, and model weights to advance research on generalist embodied agents.