PUBG publisher attempts to purge anti-AI employees after $680 million Q3 profits and generative AI pivot

Krafton recently announced that it would be shifting strategies with the goal of becoming an AI-first company. The publisher behind PUBG and Subnautica revealed that it would be "prioritising AI as a central and primary means of problem-solving," and "fostering change in change in individuals and organisations, increasing company-wide productivity," all in the name of growth and corporate value. This prior announcement was followed by a report out of Business Korea that claims Krafton has opened a new voluntary resignation program in order to encourage people to "support members in proactively designing their growth direction and embarking on new challenges both inside and outside the company amid the era of AI transformation." 

Effectively, Krafton is both giving employees a way out of the company if they don't want to be part of Krafton's new AI-first future, and reducing its head count and internal frictions. It seems as though the hope is that an exodus of employees will result in increased efficiency and that the company's agentic AI will be able to fill the holes left by those employees. To be fair to the company, it is offering employees who choose to take advantage of the voluntary resignation program severance packages according to how long they've been at the company: 

• 1 year or less of employment — 6 months' salary
• 1–2 years of service — 12 months' salary
• 2–5 years of service — 18 months' salary
• 5–8 years of service — 24 months' salary
• 8–11 years of service — 30 months' salary
• 11+ years of service — 36 months' salary

This voluntary reduction plan also comes after the publishing company recorded record profits this year, with third-quarter profits exceeding 1 trillion won (roughly $680,295,600 converted). Krafton is also currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the founders and executives of Unknown Worlds, the publisher behind Subnautica. You can find out more about that in our coverage of the lawsuit here.