Last year, Netmarble came under fire from South Korean authorities following the death of a game developer under its banner. Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service noted at the time that the game studio employee “died from a work-related cause” brought on by “irregular night-time work and excess duty in the 12 weeks” when he passed away from heart disease – in his 20s. Excess duty was described in this case as 89 hours a week for almost two months. And he was apparently not the only Netmarble employee to drop dead that year; compensation filings noted two more deaths in 2016.
By summer of last year, additional South Korean agencies, including the jusice department and labor divisions, began pressuring Netmarble to clean up how it handles overtime and overtime pay. And most recently, according to MMO Culture, the company has devised a plan of its own to limit overworking.
It’s called the “Selective Working Time System,” and it basically limits work to seven hours per day (an eight-hour shift with an hour lunch), with all work between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. forbidden without prior permission. Pregnant employees continue to work only 30 hours per week.
MMO fans will recall that Netmarble recently picked up a new CEO and is still riding high from the launch of the popular Lineage 2 Revolution mobile MMO.
Get caught up:
Nexon rolls out a flexible work schedule similar to Netmarble’s to reduce employee overwork
Crunch mode caused a young Netmarble game developer’s death, Korean government says
Netmarble under scrutiny by government agencies in the wake of a crunch-mode death
Here’s how Netmarble’s fighting crunch after multiple developer deaths
The Daily Grind: Should video game developers unionize?
