{"id":49786,"date":"2025-07-08T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=49786"},"modified":"2025-07-07T18:53:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:53:20","slug":"developers-of-multibillion-dollar-game-dungeon-fighter-online-go-on-strike-accuse-company-of-slashing-bonuses-despite-record-high-revenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/developers-of-multibillion-dollar-game-dungeon-fighter-online-go-on-strike-accuse-company-of-slashing-bonuses-despite-record-high-revenue\/","title":{"rendered":"Developers of multibillion-dollar game Dungeon Fighter Online go on strike, accuse company of slashing bonuses despite record-high revenue\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Neople \u2013 a subsidiary of Nexon Korea and home to the creators of Dungeon Fighter Online and First Berseker: Khazan<strong> <\/strong>\u2013 has been on strike since the end of June. The company\u2019s labor union organized a three-day general strike starting June 26, after which Neople\u2019s departments have been going on strike in rotation (as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisisgame.com\/webzine\/news\/nboard\/4\/?category=4&amp;n=214803\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ThisIsGame<\/a>). Dungeon Fighter Online is one of the highest-grossing games of all time (total lifetime revenue <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pocketgamer.biz\/nexon-banks-on-dungeonandfighter-mobile-china-launch-as-q1-revenue-falls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$22 billion USD<\/a> as of 2024), but Neople\u2019s employees are not happy about how much they\u2019re being paid, especially against the company\u2019s strong financial performance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"759\" height=\"404\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 759px) 100vw, 759px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250707-49786-002.jpg\" alt=\"Neople company logo\" class=\"wp-image-49790\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250707-49786-002.jpg 759w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250707-49786-002-380x202.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/biz.chosun.com\/en\/en-it\/2025\/06\/24\/WMCRLDIYKBAD5KHJNN3GFMQMUI\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ChosunBiz<\/a>, the staff at Neople believe management made an arbitrary decision to reduce annual \u201cGI\u201d &#8211; an incentive paid to employees based on the performance of newly released titles. In 2024, Neople saw yearly revenue hit record highs (roughly $951 million dollars) thanks to Dungeon Fighter Mobile\u2019s successful release in China. However, the GI paid was only two-thirds of the previous year\u2019s amount as a result of the Chinese release being delayed. Additionally, the labor union stresses that Neople has the highest amount of overtime hours among all Nexon Korea\u2019s studios, with staff suffering from burnout. Along with other bonus reductions, Neople\u2019s union claims management slashed employee earnings by 80 billion won, or roughly $58 million dollars.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1257\" height=\"704\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1257px) 100vw, 1257px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250707-49786-001.jpg\" alt=\"DNF Duel\" class=\"wp-image-49791\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250707-49786-001.jpg 1257w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250707-49786-001-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250707-49786-001-768x430.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to these complaints, Neople leadership emphasized that it has a performance-based bonus system, rather than a flat profit-sharing system. They claim that even before the GI payout, Dungeon Fighter Mobile\u2019s developers were sufficiently compensated through \u201cmilestone incentives\u201d between different stages of development, while other teams likewise received compensation according to their performance. The total amount of performance-based bonuses paid to non-executives, according to management, amounted to 15% of the company\u2019s operating profit in 2024.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A company representative <a href=\"https:\/\/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com\/news\/2025-07-03\/business\/industry\/Nexon-subsidiary-addresses-bonus-payment-issues-working-hours-amid-unionled-strike\/2344666\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commented<\/a>, \u201cNeople is committed to performance-based compensation and operates a variety of bonus systems. Equal distribution of rewards is not compatible with the nature of our industry. However, we are exploring ways to enhance transparency in the bonus system and ensure long-term, sustainable growth with our employees.\u201d According to South Korean press, this is the first labor strike the country\u2019s game industry has seen to date.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The labor union of Neople &#8211; developer of Dungeon Fighter Online and First Berseker: Khazan has been on strike since June 26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":49789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-49786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Developers of multibillion-dollar game Dungeon Fighter Online go on strike, accuse company of slashing bonuses despite record-high revenue\u00a0 - 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