Neople strike against bonus cuts

South Korean companyNexon subsidiary Neople’s(the developer of “Dungeon & Fighter”) labor union began a lawful struggle on the 10th in protest of the reduction in performance bonuses.

The union is protesting that despite the game ‘Dungeon Fighter Mobile’ achieving record-high sales of 1.3783 trillion won in 2024 due to its success in China, the company only paid performance bonuses (GI) to development personnel at two-thirds of the previous amount.

“There’s a lack of clarity in the distribution standards,” said union head Seo Seung-wook. “The rules differ drastically for executives and regular employees.”

“No one cut salaries during hard times,” said one IT company executive. “But now unions are demanding sharp pay raises based on one good year. They know we can’t overhaul our compensation structure overnight, yet they’re sticking to a hardline stance.

“There’s concern that the growing militancy is fracturing the labor-management trust we’ve worked so hard to build.”

“Despite Neople’s handsome profits, the company offered a wage growth rate similar to those of other affiliates without offering any incentives,” the union said in a statement. “Between 2019 and 2013, Neople’s operating profit reached 3.8 trillion won ($2.7 billion), which is larger than 70 percent of the total operating profit of Nexon Group affiliates.”

Starting from the 12th, the struggle will escalate into refusing to come to work early, leaving before 7 p.m., and refusing to work overtime on weekends, etc. Members of the trade union of the Seoul branch also plan to participate in the “law-abiding struggle” in batches starting from the 18th.

Chung Do-woo, the head of Neople’s labor union, stated, “We began this lawful struggle to uphold our demand for the 4% PS payment, and after observing the company’s attitude, if they do not accept it by the end of this month, we plan to enter a general strike.”

“Netmarble is currently under invisible restructuring,” the union said in a statement. “The company has dismissed non-permanent employees before their contracts expire, disbanded several teams for some obscure reasons and frozen salaries.”