Soaring Game Developer Salaries... Krafton Raises Annual Pay by 20 Million Won (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Amid the ongoing trend of salary increases in the gaming industry, Krafton is also raising salaries for its development positions by 20 million KRW. Krafton is the creator of the globally successful game "Battleground."

Even Krafton Makes a Generous Raise

On the 25th, Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han announced this salary increase plan while presenting this year's management policy through the internal communication program "Krafton Live Talk."

CEO Kim explained, "The organizational operation method is shifting from 'project-centered' to 'talent-centered,'" adding, "The idea is that talent should be the driving force of competitiveness."

Krafton will make full-scale investments in newly recruited talent. This year, salaries for development positions will increase by 20 million KRW, and for non-development positions by 15 million KRW.

For new college graduate hires, the starting salaries will be set at 60 million KRW and 50 million KRW respectively, establishing one of the highest base salary systems in the gaming industry.

Kim Chang-han, CEO of Krafton

Krafton also plans to significantly expand its open recruitment scale to hundreds of people. A system to strengthen game production capabilities will be introduced. A new "PD Training Program," involving CEO Kim and senior PDs directly, will be established. Additionally, the "Challengers Room" will be created to allow talents not assigned to official projects to form their own projects or teams.

CEO Kim stated, "Since its founding, Krafton has aspired to be a prestigious production company with a vision to succeed in the global market, positioning itself as a unique game company not found in Korea. We have considered what must be done first to strengthen game production capabilities, and from this year, we have decided to focus on creating an environment where both members and the company can grow together through active investment in talent and challenges."

War for Talent Acquisition in the Gaming Industry

Before Krafton, Nexon and Netmarble announced bold plans to increase employee salaries by 8 million KRW. As the war for talent acquisition in the gaming industry continues, game companies are competitively raising salaries.

On the 1st, Nexon raised the starting salaries for new hires by 8 million KRW to 50 million KRW for development positions and 45 million KRW for non-development positions. Previously, Nexon's starting salaries were about 42 million KRW for development and 37 million KRW for non-development positions. Nexon also decided to uniformly increase the salaries of current employees by 8 million KRW this year.

Netmarble also announced on the afternoon of the 10th through an internal notice that it would raise employee salaries by 8 million KRW. For new open recruitment hires, the starting salaries are 50 million KRW for development positions and 45 million KRW for non-development positions. The salary increase will be applied starting in March.

NCSoft, which sets salaries in March and April, is also in a difficult position. Industry insiders cautiously speculate that NCSoft may raise salaries by more than 10 million KRW.