Krafton, the publisher behind the upcoming Subnautica 2, PUBG, and inZoi has just announced its intentions to become an 'AI-First' company, a move that will see significant changes to its internal operations. AI is an incredibly divisive subject in every industry right now, but that's especially the case in the realm of video game development, where its uses both behind and in front of the scenes continue to make headlines.
Founded in November 2018, Krafton is a South Korean publisher that found itself on the front page of news outlets a few months ago. Back in July, Krafton fired the co-founders of Unknown Worlds, the studio behind the long-awaited Subnautica 2. The fallout of that decision has been rather messy, with the former Unknown Worlds executives filing a lawsuit against Krafton, alleging that they were fired so that the publisher could avoid paying the studio a $250 million bonus. Krafton hit back in August, claiming that it terminated the co-founders for the sake of Subnautica 2's quality.
Krafton Announces Its Plans to be an 'AI-First' Company
With that lawsuit still in the air, Krafton finds itself in troubled waters once again, this time regarding an announcement the publisher has just made regarding the company's use of AI. In a live talk delivered by Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han titled "Transition to an AI First Company: The Future of Work, Company, and Individual," Krafton announced sweeping changes coming in the immediate future.
According to Kim Chang-han, starting from today, "Krafton will automate work centered on Agentic AI and fully implement an AI-centered management system." Essentially, Krafton plans to utilize AI to solve "complex problems" and increase "company-wide productivity."
This embracing of AI is also coming with a sizable monetary investment from Krafton, with the company set to pay around KRW 100 billion to build an NVIDIA B300-powered GPU cluster. Krafton says this infrastructure will "support multi-stage tasks requiring sophisticated reasoning and iterative planning." This infrastructure will also be used to "pursue AI workflow automation."
Krafton expects all of this AI integration to be fully established by the second-half of 2026, where it will encompass "AI-linked workflow, an agentic AI management platform, and a data standardization system." From 2026, Krafton also plans to spend KRW 30 billion every year to train its employees in using AI tools in their work, such as an 'AI Learning Hub' where employees can share applications for AI with their colleagues.
Krafton's AI-focused changes don't end there either. To "internalize" this AI-first approach, Krafton is completely restructuring its HR system, with the existing policies set to be "reorganized around AI." Krafton wants to establish an "AI first culture" by the end of 2025. The official press release for this announcement concludes with a statement saying that Krafton will reinvest the "time and resources freed up through AI adoption" into new product development that the company is saying will "expand opportunities for internal employee mobility and role expansion."
But while the potential of expanded opportunities for current employees sounds nice, Krafton's decision to completely reorganize its HR system and tailor it to AI policies is sure to ring alarm bells for anyone who's worked in the gaming industry before. Time will tell just where this AI-first approach takes Krafton, but it likely doesn't bode well for at least some of its human workers.
- Developer(s)
- Unknown Worlds Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Krafton
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Subnautica
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Source: AsiaBusinessDaily