Krafton launches voluntary resignation program for employees as it transforms into an “AI first company”

LectureMaster

Has Man Musk


Subnautica 2 and inZOI publisher Krafton launched a voluntary resignation program open to all employees starting November 12, as reported by Business Korea. This move comes following record-breaking profits in the third fiscal quarter, and appears to be part of Krafton's reorganization efforts following the recently announced decision to become an "AI first" game company.

Under the program, domestic Krafton employees who choose to resign will be eligible for special severance packages. According to insiders, this will range from 6 to 36 months' worth of salary depending on their years of service. A Krafton representative commented that the program is not a layoff plan meant for workforce reduction, but rather a way to "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." It's a mouthful, but it seems like Krafton views this as offering a way out for employees who don't agree with or can't keep up with the new shift to AI.

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Krafton maintains that its staff will have full autonomy in deciding whether to opt for buyouts or stay, regardless of rank or experience. At the same time, the publisher has announced that it has paused hiring of new staff in areas unrelated to AI. Back when it announced its "AI-first" policy in October, Krafton mentioned that it would invest about $70 million into a GPU cluster that will become foundation for its agentic AI, so it's more than clear where their priorities lie now.
 
I fear for a Subnautica 2. Krafton seems to be pretty dodgey of a company. I'm fine with AI being integrated as I think it will help a great deal but Krafton as company seems to really be …. Interesting.
 
Sounds like a generous pay out if the min is 3 months already and they stretch it to 36 months for longtimers. How many 20 or 30 year club members can there even be at Krafton? So they are probably paying 18-24 month payout/yr of service. Heck, how often does a company offer 36 months for anyone?

A decent general rule of thumb is if you can get 1 month payout/year of service thats decent (at least for Canada, but who knows what Korea standard are). At least from places/industry I've worked at. You can gun for more if you want, but Ive never heard of a coworker who got canned (or myself when I got laid off) getting more than about 1 month/yr. And it caps out. If someone is a 30 year clubber, they arent getting 30 months. They'll weed it down a bit to be more like 20 months pay out. Though I got more as my lay off was pre-scheduled and if I stuck around for an extra few months to smooth it out they paid like an extra $3,500 or whatever which I agreed since I wasnt going to get a new job that fast anyway. But I did and was only off for one month gap between jobs. But got 3 months sev and an extra $3,500. Then my new job paid higher by $20k! lol
 
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A Krafton representative commented that the program is not a layoff plan meant for workforce reduction, but rather a way to "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."

Steve Harvey Wow GIF by NBC


"We want better things for you guys, so uhm, get the fuck out, okay?"
 
AI should be just a tool, and never a replacement for people. I wonder how this will end up for the company, and would bet on "quite bad".
 
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