Market bots are the only NPCs (non-player characters) in Dual Universe, and will only be present in the game for a limited time. Market bots will be available to jump-start the economy of Dual Universe in the days immediately following release by providing the initial injection of Quanta to the players.
Since players will not start the game with any money, and Dual Universe does not have any of the traditional means of acquiring money in an MMO (such as rewards for completing quests or killing NPCs), the only means of acquiring money at the start of the game will be by selling goods and materials to market bots. This will allow Novaquark to regulate the amount of currency available in the game, so they can prevent economic catastrophes such as hyper-inflation or liquidity shortages.
Once a healthy amount of Quanta is available to the players, market bots will be removed from the game, and the only source of player income will be from selling resources and items to other players via player-run markets. However, market bots may be reintroduced in the future should their existence be necessary to stabilize the in-game economy; though Novaquark has repeatedly expressed their intention to leave the running of the game to the players, in so much as that is possible.