The gaming world was rocked recently when Neople, the developer behind Nexon's flagship title Dungeon & Fighter (DNF), announced the cancellation of its highly anticipated 20th-anniversary event, DNF Universe 2025. Originally slated for August 9, 2025, at KINTEX in Ilsan, this large-scale offline event was meant to be a grand celebration, showcasing updates and new content across Neople’s portfolio, including Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, Project BBQ: Kazan, and Cyphers. Fans were eagerly awaiting hands-on experiences, development lectures, and exclusive merchandise, but all those plans unraveled amid escalating labor strife.
On July 14, 2025, Neople issued an official statement on the Dungeon & Fighter homepage, expressing regret for the cancellation. They cited "internal circumstances" that made it impossible to present the planned content with the level of completeness and polish expected by fans. While the company didn’t explicitly detail the reasons, industry insiders and analysts quickly pointed to the ongoing full-scale strike by Neople’s labor union as the real culprit behind the disruption.
The strike, which began on June 25, 2025, is historic in the Korean game industry as the first full-scale labor walkout. Neople’s union, representing roughly two-thirds of the company’s workforce—about 900 employees out of 1,402—has taken a firm stand demanding fairer compensation and improved working conditions. At the heart of the dispute is the union’s call for a separate profit-sharing bonus (PS) of 4% of last year’s operating profit, amounting to approximately 39.3 billion Korean won (KRW). This demand comes on the heels of Neople’s record-breaking revenue of 1.3783 trillion KRW in 2024, largely fueled by the phenomenal success of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in the Chinese market.
According to union leader Cho Jung-woo, Neople has been a financial powerhouse within the Nexon group, accounting for 32% of total group revenue and about 80% of operating profit over the past seven years. Yet, despite this staggering contribution, employees have felt shortchanged. The union alleges that the Growth Incentive (GI) bonuses paid out were only two-thirds of what had been promised, fueling frustration over perceived inequities. They also highlight grueling work schedules, including habitual night shifts and early morning commutes due to weekly maintenance, without commensurate rewards.
Neople, for its part, maintains that it has been generous within the framework of a performance-based compensation system. The company points out that it paid out GI bonuses based on 30% of domestic launch profits and 20% of overseas profits for Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, including four rounds of payments already completed. Additionally, Neople operates a separate incentive system (KI) for teams not covered by GI, and total performance bonuses this year amount to about 15% of operating profit. The company also offered a "spot bonus" of up to 33 million KRW per employee during wage negotiations—a proposal the union rejected. Neople insists that implementing a uniform profit-sharing system as the union demands would be unsustainable and has accused the union of setting conditions that make any breakthrough in talks difficult.
The labor-management impasse has had tangible repercussions beyond the boardroom. The cancellation of DNF Universe 2025 has particularly stung the game's passionate fanbase. Players who had booked travel and accommodations to attend the event expressed deep disappointment online. Comments flooded community forums and social media lamenting that fans, not the company or union, are the ones bearing the brunt of the conflict. One longtime player remarked, "Why do fans have to suffer because of labor disputes?" Another, reflecting frustration, urged the company to outsource operations to Tencent if necessary to maintain service continuity.
Yet, not all reactions have been unsympathetic to the union. Some community members voiced support for the developers’ right to fair pay and better working conditions, recognizing that disputes over performance bonuses are common in many industries. Neutral observers also pointed out the complexities Neople faced in penetrating the Chinese market, where stringent content censorship forced the development team to make significant adjustments. This context adds nuance to the demands for compensation parity, especially given that Neople’s headquarters are located in Jeju, where employees may reasonably expect pay comparable to Seoul-based counterparts.
Despite the blow to fan morale, Neople has pledged to redirect its efforts toward stabilizing live game services during the strike. Dungeon & Fighter’s general director, Park Jong-min, apologized for the sudden cancellation and reassured players that update schedules would not be immediately altered. He emphasized that the team is focused on maintaining service quality and preventing disruptions caused by the manpower shortage.
In lieu of the canceled event, Neople announced plans to host a social contribution event celebrating Dungeon & Fighter’s 20th anniversary, aimed at providing a fun and cool space for children during the hot summer months. They also intend to hold an "Online One Day" event as a scaled-down version of the original festival and hope to reschedule a fuller DNF Universe gathering in the future.
The Neople strike and event cancellation highlight broader trends and challenges within South Korea’s burgeoning IT and gaming sectors. Unlike traditional manufacturing industries with decades of labor negotiation history, the game industry is still developing its labor relations culture. The emergence of unionization and full-scale strikes in gaming companies is relatively new and has introduced a fresh dynamic where consumers—the gamers—are directly affected and vocal in the conflict. This situation underscores the delicate balance between labor rights, corporate profitability, and consumer expectations in a highly competitive and fast-evolving market.
As the strike continues with no clear resolution in sight, all eyes remain on Neople and Nexon to see how they navigate these uncharted waters. The outcome could set important precedents for labor relations in the Korean gaming industry and beyond. For now, the 20th anniversary of Dungeon & Fighter will be remembered not only as a milestone for one of Korea’s most iconic game franchises but also as a moment that exposed the growing pains of an industry grappling with its own internal conflicts.
