The game developer and publisher Krafton, known primarily for PUBG is moving forward with an “AI first” strategy. Therefore, it is offering its employees the option to leave voluntarily.
What did Krafton announce? On October 23, CEO Kim Chang-han announced plans to transform Krafton into an “AI first” company, with a strong focus on the use of artificial intelligence. Employees should henceforth “concentrate on creative activities and solving complex problems”.
In the course of this restructuring, it appears that they now want to reduce their workforce and are offering employees the option to leave voluntarily. According to BusinessKorea, they have already started sending out corresponding emails to all employees of the company.
Krafton itself states that this program is intended as support for employees – not as a means to reduce staff: “The core purpose is to help employees proactively shape their growth direction and tackle new challenges within and outside the company in the era of AI transformation”.
The development studio behind the action RPG Last Epoch was recently acquired by Krafton:
New Direction Despite Record Profits
What is the current state of the company? Financially speaking, things are currently looking good for Krafton. In the 3rd quarter of 2025, they reported record profits, as the company announced on November 4. Due to strong performance, they plan to invest over 100 billion Won (around 59 million Euros) in the Indian market and the AI sector.
How are players reacting? Some gaming fans are concerned about the company’s new strategy. While Krafton is primarily known for the free battle royale shooter PUBG, it is also involved in the development of other games – including Subnautica 2, inZOI, and Last Epoch.
Krafton’s decision regarding AI is currently also impacting the Steam reviews of various games published by the company. Players are increasingly leaving negative reviews, condemning the company’s decision:
- “There is no place for AI in human art, and no amount of corporate greed will change that,” writes Mortimerski in a review of Last Epoch (Steam), and he is not alone.
- “Who will still want to buy or play Krafton’s games when everything is just AI mush and you replace your human employees in HR, customer service, etc.?” writes PrincessHoneyBat in a review of inZOI (Steam).
Amazon has also recently laid off numerous employees of the company. Prioritizing AI played a role there as well. The layoffs also affected Amazon Game Studios and Twitch; read more about it here: Amazon lays off around 14,000 employees – Twitch and MMORPGs heavily affected
