# GameDirector: Decoupling Gameplay Logic from Rendering for Player-Configurable Game World Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25652 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.25652/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Video-generation world models and simulators, one of 11 directions in World models.
- Builds on 29 of its 31 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 22 Sep 2026.

## Placed in

- World models / [Video-generation world models and simulators](https://mlsanity.com/wm/video-generation-world-models-and-simulators/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 29 of 29)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Wan: Open and Advanced Large-Scale Video Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.20314/) (2025)
- [Genie: Generative Interactive Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.15391/) (2024)
- [Gemma 4 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.02770/) (2026)
- [Matrix-game 2.0: An open-source real-time and streaming interactive world model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.13009/) (2025)
- [Advancing Open-source World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.20540/) (2026)
- [UniMax: Fairer and more Effective Language Sampling for Large-Scale Multilingual Pretraining](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09151/) (2023)
- [Yume-1.5: A Text-Controlled Interactive World Generation Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.22096/) (2025)
- [Causal Forcing++: Scalable Few-Step Autoregressive Diffusion Distillation for Real-Time Interactive Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.15141/) (2026)
- [SANA-WM: Efficient Minute-Scale World Modeling with Hybrid Linear Diffusion Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.15178/) (2026)
- [Infinite Worlds with Versatile Interactions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.07534/) (2026)
- [Lyra 2.0: Explorable Generative 3D Worlds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.13036/) (2026)
- [DreamX-World 1.0: A General-Purpose Interactive World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.16993/) (2026)
- [MultiWorld: Scalable Multi-Agent Multi-View Video World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.18564/) (2026)
- [Alaya-EVOKE: From Linear-Scaling Supervision to Endless World](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.13546/) (2026)
- [Code World Model: Coding Agent as World Brain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.25927/) (2026)
- [WildWorld: A Large-Scale Dataset for Dynamic World Modeling with Actions and Explicit State toward Generative ARPG](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.23497/) (2026)
- [SCOPE: Simulating Cross-game Operations in Playable Environments for FPS World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.23345/) (2026)
- [Incantation: Natural Language as the Action Interface for Multi-Entity Video World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.18601/) (2026)
- [Programmable World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.10540/) (2026)
- [ReactiveGWM: Steering NPC in Reactive Game World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.15256/) (2026)
- [InSpatio-WorldFM: An Open-Source Real-Time Generative Frame Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.11911/) (2026)
- [StatePlay: State-Aware Game World Models for Mechanics-Consistent Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.26754/) (2026)
- [Marionette: Predicting World States, Rendering Geometry, Painting Appearance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.14530/) (2026)
- [From Pixels to States: Rethinking Interactive World Models as Game Engines](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.14076/) (2026)
- [H3-World: Turning Language Understanding into World Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.01560/) (2026)
- [WorldMind: Decoupled Game World Model for State-Aware NPC Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.21439/) (2026)
- [Magpie: Real-Time World Renderer for Interactive Games](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.27168/) (2026)
- [AI for Games in the Foundation Model Era](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.16679/) (2026)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [AgentGarten: Code Worlds for Evolving Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.12374/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recent game world models support realistic visual simulation and interactive gameplay based on player inputs. However, they typically learn environment dynamics from pixel-level supervision, jointly modeling perception, memory, state transitions, and rendering within a single end-to-end framework. While this design enables open-ended, action-controllable generation, it still falls short of delivering a complete gameplay experience. Games are governed by explicit mechanics, such as health deduction, skill activation, combat rules, and termination conditions. These mechanics depend on precise and consistent state transitions that generative models alone cannot reliably enforce. In contrast, game engines can guarantee such mechanics through hard-coded rules, but provide limited flexibility for player-driven creation. To bridge these paradigms, we introduce GameDirector, the first agentic framework that decouples rule-based gameplay logic from visual rendering. Given player-defined configurations, the framework acts as an intelligent director that interprets visual observations, updates game states, tactically controls NPCs, and enforces gameplay rules. It then translates these decisions into text prompts that guide the video world model to render the resulting gameplay. This separation allows players to configure characters, states, and rules much like a game developer while preserving coherent game mechanics. Experiments on three games, using data collected by our automated gameplay agent, show that GameDirector achieves accurate state tracking, reliable rule following, and improves boss action quality by more than 39.9% over various end-to-end game world model settings. Overall, by externalizing player-controllable game logic, GameDirector establishes a middle ground between hard-coded simulation and generative modeling, enabling more flexible and closed-loop gameplay experiences.