Gunzilla faces widening pay dispute

Gunzilla Games, the studio behind blockchain-linked shooter Off The Grid and the new owner of Game Informer, has been accused by current and former workers of failing to pay salaries for months, opening a fresh controversy around one of gaming’s more closely watched independent publishers. Multiple reports published on April 8 and April 9 said staff and contractors alleged they had gone unpaid since late 2025, while the company’s chief executive publicly pushed back on the claims and said the business was managing payments in line with cash flow.

The dispute matters beyond one studio because Gunzilla has positioned itself at the intersection of mainstream games media, AAA game development and Web3 finance. The company revived Game Informer in March 2025 after the publication was shut down by GameStop, and it has promoted Off The Grid as a big-budget multiplayer title with optional NFT-linked item trading through its GUNZ platform. That mix has made Gunzilla a test case for whether crypto-backed games businesses can sustain costly development while also winning mainstream credibility.

Accounts from affected workers describe a pattern rather than an isolated payroll slip. One former staff member said publicly that he had not been paid since October 2025, while other reports cited workers who claimed delayed salaries stretched back several months. Game-focused trade coverage said employees viewed the problem as systemic and alleged that management had long been aware of it. Some reports distinguished between salaried employees and contractors, a distinction that has become central to Gunzilla’s defence.

Vlad Korolev, Gunzilla’s chief executive and co-founder, has not accepted the broadest version of the allegations. Reporting on his public comments said he denied that “full-time official employees” were going unpaid, while acknowledging delays affecting some contractors and arguing that payment scheduling was tied to the company’s financial management. His remarks, including references to “haters” and to running a business under pressure, appear to have intensified criticism rather than closing the issue.

That response has sharpened scrutiny of Gunzilla’s finances and governance. The company has previously highlighted substantial fundraising, including a $46 million raise announced in 2022 and a further $30 million funding round disclosed in March 2024. It also operates across Frankfurt, London and Kyiv, giving it an international footprint that suggests significant overheads. For critics, the question is how a studio with that profile, and with a flagship title already in early access, could allow payroll complaints to erupt so publicly. For supporters, the counterargument is that the games industry remains under strain, with layoffs, project delays and capital tightening still affecting developers well beyond the crypto segment.
Off The Grid* itself is part of the backdrop. The game entered early access on October 8, 2024 on PC and consoles, and Gunzilla has marketed it as a large-scale shooter with optional blockchain functionality rather than a pure crypto product. That distinction was meant to broaden its appeal at a time when many traditional players remained sceptical of NFTs. Yet the latest wage dispute risks dragging the game back into an argument about whether token-driven ecosystems create durable businesses or simply add another layer of volatility to an already risky industry.

The Game Informer angle adds another layer of sensitivity. When the title returned in March 2025, both Gunzilla and Game Informer’s leadership emphasised that the publication would remain editorially independent, with coverage decisions left entirely to its newsroom. That pledge helped calm fears that a developer with a commercially sensitive flagship game would own a long-established games outlet. Salary allegations at the parent company now raise awkward questions about whether a newsroom can remain insulated if its owner is facing pressure over staff payments and cash management.