Vespa, Which Raised Annual Salary by 12 Million Won, Issues Voluntary Resignation Notice to All Employees After One Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Vespa, a game company that made headlines last year for implementing a 12 million KRW salary increase, has notified most of its employees of recommended resignation after struggling with management difficulties.

According to the gaming industry on the 1st, Kim Jinsoo, CEO of Vespa, informed all employees from the three companies gathered the day before, saying, "We made great efforts to revive the company and attracted investments, but unfortunately, it did not work out," and notified them of recommended resignation. It is reported that about 100 employees, more than two-thirds of the 148 executives and staff, received the recommended resignation notice.

Founded in 2013, Vespa hit a success with "King's Raid" in 2017, which won the Excellence Award in the mobile game category at the Korea Game Awards. The company expanded its scale through a KOSDAQ listing in 2018, but its performance was not favorable. Over the past three years, it recorded losses of 8.7 billion KRW in 2019, 33.9 billion KRW in 2020, and 44.1 billion KRW in 2021. It also posted a loss of 2.8 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year.

In particular, Vespa attracted attention last year when it raised the salaries of all employees by 12 million KRW amid a general salary increase trend in the gaming industry. However, shortly after, it received a notice of "concern for designation as a management item" from the KOSDAQ Market Headquarters due to business losses exceeding 50% of its equity capital.

In August last year, the new title "Time Defenders" was pre-released in Japan but failed to succeed, and it was also ignored in the domestic market when released in April this year. Vespa also faced management difficulties, including a trading suspension in February due to concerns about delisting, ultimately leading to the decision to notify recommended resignations.

It is reported that Vespa plans to continue live services and new development with a minimal number of personnel.