NCSoft's 'Gate Off' System: Will It Bring Changes to Industry Labor Environment?

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] NCSoft is introducing a ‘Gate Off’ system that restricts employees who exceed the maximum monthly working hours from entering the company. The purpose is to fundamentally prevent excessive labor, drawing attention to whether it will bring changes to the labor environment, including the chronic overwork problem in the gaming industry.

According to NCSoft on the 27th, once the Gate Off system is implemented, employees who reach the maximum monthly working hours will not be able to freely enter and exit the company. Based on the 52-hour workweek system, NCSoft’s maximum monthly working hours for employees is 208 hours. Employees who exceed this will find that the door does not open even if their access card is recognized at the ‘Speed Gate’ at the first-floor entrance of the headquarters.

NCSoft explained, "The system is designed to guarantee employees’ rest time by preventing them from coming to work once they have completed their maximum working hours, so that there is no need to monitor whether they have worked overtime." Currently, as most employees are working from home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the company plans to officially introduce this system after pilot operation and gathering feedback.

Long working hours in the gaming industry are notoriously severe. The so-called ‘crunch mode,’ where employees work overtime at the expense of their personal lives, has been a common practice. According to a labor survey conducted by Rep. Jeon Yong-gi’s office of the Democratic Party in October last year targeting 1,134 gaming industry workers, only 63.8% of respondents said they worked an average of 40 to 52 hours per week in the past year. Those who worked 52 to 68 hours accounted for 15.6%, and 11.1% reported working more than 68 hours. Nearly half, 46.6%, said they did not receive appropriate compensation for regular overtime work.

Many expect NCSoft’s attempt to have a positive effect on improving the labor environment. However, there are also opinions that, due to the nature of the industry, it is not always possible to simply follow NCSoft’s method.

According to the ‘2020 Game Industry Worker Labor Environment Survey’ published earlier this year by the Korea Creative Content Agency, when asked about the reasons for crunch mode, 32.9% of workers responded that it was due to the nature of the gaming industry, which constantly has a heavy workload. This was followed by unexpected variables such as system errors and bugs (32.1%), sudden change requests from publisher business divisions (18.0%), and insufficient management of personnel, budget, and time by executives or managers (12.9%). Workers even rated the necessity of ‘crunch mode’ at 55.5 points out of 100.

An industry insider said, "Small game companies do not have the capacity to increase personnel, and if even one employee takes a break, it disrupts game development or management," adding, "Unconditionally enforcing the 52-hour workweek system will not solve the structural problems of the industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.