Jang Tae-seok, Krafton's head of the PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS series, received the highest compensation among executives and employees of domestic game companies in the first half of this year.
According to semiannual reports disclosed by major domestic game companies on the 14th, Jang Tae-seok, Krafton's PUBG franchise head and director, received a total of 3.93 billion won in the first half, including 440 million won in salary, 1.53 billion won in bonuses, and 1.95 billion won in stock-based compensation.
This exceeds the compensation received by CEO Kim Chang-han, which included a 300 million won salary and a 3.56 billion won bonus.
Krafton said about the selection criteria, "We comprehensively reflected factors such as overseeing live development and service at PUBG Studio and multiple production projects, while also leading future investments for growth into a global game IP based on PUBG intellectual property (IP), which can contribute to the company in the mid-to-long term."
Kim Sang-gyun, who oversees development of the PUBG PC version, and Director Kim Tae-hyun were each allocated compensation of about 2.2 billion won and 1.95 billion won, respectively, in the first half. Krafton founder Chairman Jang Byung-gyu received 700 million won in compensation during the same period.
Neowiz set compensation of 1.34 billion won, including salary, bonuses, and stock-based compensation, for Development Head Choi Ji-won, who led the creation of "Lies of P." Neowiz said the amount was determined based on a comprehensive evaluation of Choi's performance in 2025 as the overall director of "Lies of P" and expected future contributions.
Park Sung-joon, CEO who led the Round8 Studio business that produced "Lies of P," was allocated 1.28 billion won in compensation during the same period. Co-CEO Kim Seung-chul received about 1 billion won during the same period.
NC co-CEO Kim Taek-jin received about 2.4 billion won, including a 1.3 billion won salary and 1.1 billion won in long-term incentives. Co-CEO Park Byung-moo received 1 billion won, and Senior Executive Vice President Lee Sung-gu, who oversees development of the "Lineage" series and new titles, was allocated about 970 million won in compensation.
Netmarble Chairman Bang Jun-hyuk received about 1.35 billion won, including an 840 million won salary and a 500 million won bonus.