WeMade Employees Sue Gaming Giant Over ‘Unpaid Altcoin Bonuses’

Twenty-seven current and former employees of the blockchain arm of the gaming titan WeMade have launched a legal case against the firm over “unpaid” altcoin bonuses.

Per Hyundae Kyungjae Shinmun, the group says the company promised to pay them crypto performance-based bonuses for working on the firm’s WEMIX token.

Altcoin Bonuses: Employees Demand Payment

The outlet said that lawyers for the firm and the group of employees “waged a fierce battle” as the case opened at the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division on January 7.

The employees, some of whom still work at WeMade, are seeking damages of around $11 million.

The group comprises members of the Wemade Tree subsidiary, WeMade’s former blockchain arm.

The firm successfully developed WEMIX, which was first listed on crypto exchanges in 2020. WeMade then merged with WeMade Tree in February 2022.

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‘Verbal Contract’ Claims

The plaintiffs’ legal team said the employees “developed the WEMIX token” and “signed a WEMIX development compensation agreement [with the company].”

The lawyers said the “condition” was “a minimum of three years of employment” at WeMade.

They also claimed that the company had sent an email to the staffers “clearly promising them token compensation.”

But WeMade’s attorney said that the plaintiffs’ claims centered on “a verbal contract” regarding token bonuses.

However, the WeMade legal team denied that any such “verbal contract was concluded.” It also claimed the firm “only provided guidance” on “basic compensation plans.”

The WeMade legal team lawyers said that “at the time, there were no established industry standards” for “firms to handle accounting conducted in crypto.”

The same team said that “after discussing various matters at the company,” executives “realized that [crypto bonuses] would be burdensome” because “accounting standards were so unclear.”

The WeMade legal team suggested the firm still intends to launch a WEMIX token bonus program “through consultation with company employees.”

However, the plaintiffs said there had been a “criminal breach of trust” on the part of the company.

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Judge Tells WeMade to Submit Compensation Plan

The presiding judge said that the plaintiffs’ case displayed a “weakness” due to the fact that “no contract was signed.”

But it also claimed that the defendant’s claim that it could not “pay the employees a single penny” because there is no contract was “abnormal.”

The judge recommended that both parties pursue mediation, but ordered WeMade to prepare and submit it with “a compensation plan” by mid-March. The court will reconvene on the morning of March 21.

Earlier this year, WeMade announced its intention to step up its blockchain focus and integrate decentralized social communities. The company is most famous for developing the Legend of Mir series of games.