Krafton Freezes Hiring to Chase ‘AI-First’ Dream

The makers of PUBG: Battlegrounds are slamming the brakes on hiring humans so they can hit the gas on artificial intelligence. Krafton has imposed a company-wide hiring freeze and launched a voluntary resignation program as part of a new plan to become an "AI-first" company.

Key Facts

• The Freeze: Krafton has stopped hiring for all roles except those related to AI and "original intellectual property" development.
• The Buyouts: The company is offering massive severance packages—up to 36 months of salary—to encourage staff to leave voluntarily.
• The Goal: Executives want to replace repetitive tasks with "Agentic AI" and have pledged over $70 million to build the tech infrastructure.
• Source: Los Angeles Times, GamesIndustry.biz

The ‘AI-First’ Mandate

Krafton CEO CH Kim is betting the company’s future on automation. In a recent internal memo, Kim told staff the company would start using "Agentic AI"—software that can act on its own to solve problems—to handle daily work. To make this happen, the company is cutting costs in other areas.

CFO Bae Dong-geun confirmed the freeze during a November earnings call. He stated that individual productivity must go up across the company. Instead of hiring more people to do the work, Krafton wants its current workforce to use AI tools to get more done. If you aren’t building a new game or coding an AI bot, the door for new hires is closed.

Pay to Quit

While Krafton isn’t calling this a "mass layoff" yet, they are paying people to leave. The company launched a "voluntary resignation" program that offers some of the biggest severance checks we have seen this year.

Staff with less than one year of service can leave with six months of pay. Veterans who have been with the company for over 11 years can walk away with a check for 36 months of salary. The company says this program is to help employees decide their own future, but in the world of labor analysis, this is often a way to shrink the headcount before forced cuts begin.

The Bottom Line

This move signals a major shift in the video game industry. Krafton is profitable—they just posted record earnings—but they are still cutting back on human staff. They are trading guaranteed jobs today for the hope that AI can do the work cheaper and faster tomorrow.