Last year, as the business environment worsened, the average annual salary of employees in domestic game companies showed signs of polarization. Game companies with hit new titles saw salary increases due to higher incentives. As a result, three game companies made it into the ‘1 billion won salary club.’ However, some underperforming game companies had to cut wages.
According to the business reports of major domestic game companies posted on the Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure system on the 27th, three companies, SHIFT UP, KRAFTON, and NCSOFT, had average employee salaries exceeding 100 million won last year. SHIFT UP recorded an average employee salary of 130 million won, ranking first in the industry. SHIFT UP, which went public in the second half of last year, does not have salary information from the previous year. KRAFTON's average employee salary was 109 million won, a 11.2% increase compared to 2023 (98 million won). During the same period, NCSOFT maintained a similar level, with an average salary of 107 million won, up slightly to 108 million won.
SHIFT UP and KRAFTON provided top-tier compensation levels based on good performance last year. SHIFT UP's revenue was 219.9 billion won, and its operating profit was 148.6 billion won, increasing by 30.4% and 33.8%, respectively, from the previous year. During the same period, KRAFTON achieved revenues of 2.7098 trillion won and operating profits of 1.1825 trillion won, figures that represented increases of 41.8% and 54.0%, respectively, marking all-time highs. Both companies' hit titles drove their performance. SHIFT UP benefited from the success of “Goddess of Victory: Nikke” and “Stella Blade,” while KRAFTON saw continued success with “PUBG,” allowing them to pay employees higher salaries and bonuses.
NCSOFT recorded an annual salary exceeding 100 million won last year; however, this was a decrease of 5.2% over two years compared to 2022 (114 million won). Poor performance played a role in this drop. NCSOFT's revenue last year was 1.5781 trillion won, with an operating loss of 109.2 billion won. Revenue decreased by 11% compared to the previous year, and operating profit turned negative. The lack of new titles and declining revenues from existing games such as Lineage W and M impacted performance bonuses. NCSOFT also conducted large-scale voluntary resignations and early retirements last year, resulting in a reduction of 1,191 employees in just one year.
In contrast, the rate of increase in salaries for other game companies that raised wages was minimal. The average employee salary for NEXON GAMES, a subsidiary of NEXON, reached 94.8 million won, a 1.3% increase from the previous year (93.52 million won). During the same period, the salaries of Com2uS and Netmarble increased by 1.2% and 2.6%, respectively, reaching 82 million won and 77 million won.
On the other hand, some game companies saw a decrease in employee salaries. Devsisters experienced the largest drop in salary among domestic game companies. The average employee salary of this company was 66 million won, down 20.4% from the previous year (83 million won). A Devsisters representative noted, “The decrease in last year’s salary resulted from compensation payments related to the implementation of voluntary retirement at the end of 2023,” adding, “this year’s salary amounts will be normalized.”
Kakao Games also recorded an average employee salary of 88 million won last year, reflecting a 10.2% decrease compared to the previous year (98 million won). Previously, after going public in 2020, employees consistently exercised stock options, resulting in the highest salary among domestic game companies (138 million won). However, as recent stock prices have been poor, the exercise of stock options is no longer as robust as before. With company profits declining, employee performance bonuses also decreased. A Kakao Games representative explained, “The high salary recorded was due to the benefits from employees exercising stock options at the time of the 2020 IPO, which has been decreasing every year since.
The average employee salaries for Wemade and NEOWIZ decreased by 9.7% and 2.3% respectively, recording 83 million won and 82 million won. In the case of Wemade, including stock option exercise amounts, the average salary was 110 million won, but this resulted from the exercise of stock options by former Wemade CEO Jang Hyun-guk (currently CEO of NEXTERS), who received 9.7 billion won, creating an ‘average trap.’ Excluding the stock option exercise amount, the average employee salary was only 83 million won.