Krafton Pauses Hiring, Offers Voluntary Resignations

• Krafton observes its best performance ever with an astounding revenue of KRW 870.6 billion.
• The company announced a voluntary resignation program with up to 36 months’ pay.
• Krafton also informed that a hiring freeze will begin as it shifts to an “AI First” policy.
  

Krafton, Inc. will now allow its employees to voluntarily resign under its generous support program. This move came as the PUBG publisher reported strong financial results in its third quarter.

On Nov 4, 2025, the company reported a revenue of KRW 870.6 billion (~ $596 million USD), up by 21% YoY. Krafton also observed an operating profit of KRW 348.6 billion (~ $238 million USD), up by 7.5 % YoY.

From Q1 to Q3, the business altogether raised KRW 2.4069 trillion in revenue and KRW 1.0519 trillion in operating profit, showcasing one of the finest results in its history. 

Krafton Voluntary Resignation: What Does It Entail?

The program, which was internally announced on November 12, is available to all employees, including those who have worked for the company for less than five years. The program reward will depend on tenure, where employees with longer service may receive better compensation.

Employees with less than a year's experience get paid for six months. Twelve months' pay will be given to individuals with up to two years, while eighteen months' pay will be given to those with up to five years.

Up to eight years, employees will receive a remuneration of 24 months, while employees serving for eleven years are set to take home 30 months’ compensation, if they opt for voluntary resignation. The company is also offering a 36-month salary to everyone who has worked for more than 11 years.

According to Krafton, the resignation program is to help rather than a reduction in the workforce. As Business Korea reported, an official said that the initiative will help workers to “proactively design their growth direction.” The company also stated that it will assist employees in deciding whether to stay with the company or look for possibilities elsewhere.

Is Krafton Cutting Jobs or Leaning More on AI?

Krafton’s decision comes after its Oct 23 announcement of following a "AI First" policy. The company intends to "automate work centered on agentic AI." With this, Krafton wishes to move towards a system where employees concentrate on complicated and creative activities, highlighted CEO Kim Chang-han. For this shift, Krafton will also invest roughly 100 billion won in GPU clusters.

Krafton is also set to pause on hiring at the moment. As per CFO Bae Dong-geun, only teams working on original IP and AI are exempt from the freeze. He highlighted that the goal is to improve overall productivity, not to cut labor costs. He further said that Krafton will later confirm if the decision will affect its five-year franchise strategy.