Krafton, the publisher behind games including InZOI, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and the upcoming Subnautica 2, is offering its employees years' worth of payment to quit their jobs after publicly committing itself to AI development. Krafton reportedly just put up a record-breaking money-making quarter of the year, and buying out current employees' contracts is likely a move meant to push those financial numbers even higher.
Founded in 2018 as a holding company and parent company of developer Bluehole Studio after its battle royale game PUBG: Battlegrounds recorded massive player counts, Krafton has made several big business moves over the past few years. The South Korea-based company has founded or acquired subsidiaries that include Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Tango Gameworks, InZOI Studio, Striking Distance Studios, and multiple studios dedicated primarily to developing mobile games.
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Krafton Is Offering Employees a Lot of Money to Quit
Amid its ongoing success, new information states that Krafton is now offering across-the-board buyout deals for current employee contracts in an apparent bid to reduce the size of its workforce. This news comes just a few weeks after CEO Kim Chang-han gave a speech announcing Krafton was becoming an AI-first company. As reported by BusinessKorea, an internal announcement at the company made on November 12 offers all employees the option of leaving their jobs in exchange for months' to years' worth of payment based on how long employees have worked there. These reported numbers indicate that an employee who has put in less than a year of service is eligible for six months worth of pay, while at the high end, an employee with 11 or more years of service can collect three years' worth of salary in exchange for quitting.
This news also comes just as Krafton has announced record-high quarterly operating profit numbers of 1.052 trillion Korean won, or roughly $717.7 million USD. It also comes amid an unresolved wrongful termination lawsuit over Subnautica 2, put forth by Unknown Worlds founder Charlie Cleveland, former CEO Ted Gill, and former technical director Max McGuire. These former employees claim that Krafton fired them in order to avoid paying them $250 million in owed performance bonuses. Meanwhile, Krafton alleges that these former employees inappropriately downloaded several files that serve as the blueprint of Subnautica 2 before their departure and has filed a separate lawsuit accusing them of abandoning their duties.
Another of Krafton's major projects, life simulator InZOI, has also faced heavy criticism for its use of AI, which includes the in-game creation of 3D printed objects from 2D images and the generation of custom textures based on players' text input. The game was released in early access in March, and while Krafton has continued to support it through additional DLC, InZOI's initial player count went down dramatically a week after its early access launch, tumbling from more than 87,000 peak daily concurrent players on Steam to less than 4,000, and recent daily figures now show roughly half that number being recorded.
- Date Founded
- March 26, 2007
- Headquarters
- South Korea
- Subsidiaries
- Bluehole Studio, PUBG Corporation, Unknown Worlds Entertainment
- Known For
- PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds)
Source: BusinessKorea