NCSoft Corporation, a video game developer and distributor, announced it had established the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Management Committee. Since ESG is an advancing standard within companies, NCSoft created the ESG Management Committee to support sustainable business activities further, becoming the first company in the gaming industry to form a dedicated ESG committee.
To this end, Yoon Song-I will serve as the committee’s Chief Strategy Officer, heading the gaming company’s ESG strategies employment. Meanwhile, Jeong Jin-Soo will act as the Chief Operating Officer, and Lee Sang-Beom will act as the Chief Personnel Officer. According to NCSoft, establishing the ESG Management Committee is part of its systematic and long-term plans to promote responsible practices.
“In the future, NC plans to consider various programs and expand related support so that future generations can develop and utilize technologies based on correct values,” said NCSoft. As part of its ESG-based sustainable business operations, NCSoft will focus on four core management areas dubbed ‘FUEL.’ The four core areas include: consideration of Future generation, support for the Underprivileged, Ecosystem protection, and AI Leadership and ethics.
Employing ESG Strategies for More Responsible Practices
NCSoft will provide future generation support by investing in projects and activities that promote self-direction and creativity within community members. Since 2020, NC has been operating Projectory, a Seoul-based creative community that allows members, mostly students, to create projects freely.
This year, NCSoft plans to collaborate with local creative centers, fostering and sharing the project culture with more children.
In accordance with supporting the underprivileged, NCSoft targets to create more job opportunities for people with disabilities and communication difficulties.
Through NC Cultural Foundation’s My First AAC, an application for people experiencing communicative disabilities, NCSoft increases awareness of communication disorders. With the ‘Standard Workplace for the Disabled’ certification, NCSoft helps in PWD job expansion by meeting and supplying facility requirements.
Additionally, NCSoft actively pursues partnerships with environmental organizations to promote science and technologies that contribute to planet protection. Recently, NCSoft collaborated with ProtectedSeas, a conservation organization, to develop the Marine Protected Area Map platform, raising marine protection awareness. Besides the environmental protection firm collaborations, NCSoft also practices energy conservation and recycling and enforces in-house eco-friendly campaigns and standards.
Lastly, the South Korean gaming company supports multidisciplinary, ethical AI usage by funding various institutes that conduct AI research. In 2018, NCSoft created an AI talent development and recruitment program to cultivate individuals with AI R&D interests. Moreover, NCSoft has been conducting gaming development and research in partnership with the KAIST Graduate School of Culture Technology.
“The direction NC’s ESG management pursues is clear. It is to eliminate blind spots within the social community and to achieve fundamental and qualitative changes,” continued NCSoft.
