Until the Office Relocation... Game Companies' 'Developer Recruitment'

Nexon Jeju Subsidiary Neople Development Team Moves to Yeoksam, Seoul
Increased Game Demand Due to COVID-19... NC and Netmarble Also Hiring Frequently

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Nexon recently decided to relocate the office of Neople's 'Dungeon & Fighter' mobile development team, a subsidiary located in Jeju Island, to Yeoksam, Seoul. This decision aims to secure highly skilled developers. Nexon plans to expand the Dungeon & Fighter mobile development workforce from 170 to 300 employees, scheduled to be announced in the first half of the year. A Nexon representative stated, "There is a need to rapidly increase the number of developers ahead of the service launch," adding, "The office relocation is expected to positively impact recruitment of development personnel."

◆ Heated Game Developer Recruitment Market = Despite concerns about a hiring freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the game developer recruitment market remains a 'safe zone.' Each time a new game project begins, additional personnel are required, and as games become more popular, more staff are needed for updates, server management, and other tasks.

According to industry sources on the 20th, major domestic game companies such as Nexon, NCSoft, and Netmarble are actively recruiting developers. NCSoft currently has 59 ongoing full-time job openings, 50 of which are for development roles. NCSoft has been expanding its development workforce by around 200 employees annually. The number of developers increased from 2,166 in 2017 to 2,368 in 2018 and 2,529 in 2019. An NCSoft representative said, "As this year is considered the first year of global expansion, we are aggressively increasing our development workforce."

Netmarble is also continuously recruiting developers. The game business division workforce grew from 691 in 2017 to 781 in 2018 and 802 in 2019, a 16% increase over two years. A Netmarble representative stated, "We are recruiting experienced developers in various fields such as infrastructure, security, big data, and AI (artificial intelligence) on an ongoing basis." In fact, there are currently 80 job openings, including server programmers for 'The Seven Deadly Sins' and programmers for 'Blade & Soul.'

Nexon, which decided to relocate its office, is additionally recruiting for about 40 development positions, including programmers for 'MapleM.' A Nexon representative said, "We are preparing various incentives to attract talented developers."

◆ Surge in Game Content Consumption Due to COVID-19 = The game industry's active recruitment of developers is driven by increased consumption of game content amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Above all, with first-quarter earnings expected to grow, the burden of labor costs from expanding developer recruitment is not significant.

According to securities analysts, NCSoft's expected first-quarter revenue is 705.5 billion KRW, a 96.6% increase year-over-year. Operating profit is expected to rise 242.6% to 272.4 billion KRW. Netmarble is forecasted to achieve first-quarter revenue of 559.1 billion KRW and operating profit of 47.5 billion KRW, up 17% and 40% respectively, driven by the success of the new title A3: Still Alive. Nexon is expected to see a 13-20% decline compared to the same period last year, with revenue estimated between 788.5 billion and 859.3 billion KRW, due to weak sales of Dungeon & Fighter in China.

An industry insider said, "There is a high demand for developers ahead of new game releases," adding, "Developers tend to change jobs frequently, and there is often a shortage, so recruitment is less affected by economic conditions."