Gunzilla's unpaid bills are piling up, say sources—including one for over $100,000

Gunzilla, the game studio behind extraction shooter Off The Grid and the revival of magazine Game Informer, recently faced allegations that it has failed to pay contractors on time. Speaking under the condition of anonymity, new sources with knowledge of the company's dealings have told PC Gamer that its problems with paying are widespread, and in one case include an unpaid bill of over $100,000.

Gunzilla CEO Vlad Korolev downplayed the previous claims about unpaid workers, saying in a statement posted to X that salaries of the studio's "full-time official employees ... have never been delayed by more than a week."

But according to a source at the company, Gunzilla relies heavily on contractors rather than "full-time official employees," particularly in its Ukraine office, which accounts for more than half the studio's workforce. The source alleges that many of the contractors in Ukraine and other parts of the world have gone without pay since 2025.

Even high-level roles may be contract positions. Anna Savina, whose complaints about being unpaid for several months inspired others to speak up, held a full-time role as Gunzilla's head of talent acquisition, but was nonetheless apparently a contract worker: After Korolev, the Gunzilla CEO, said that "one of the loudest voices—a contractor who finished working with us just a week ago—was repaid immediately," Savina, whose employment at Gunzilla ended earlier this month, reported that she'd been paid in full.

Gunzilla also owes money to at least one company it contracted work from. According to sources familiar with the matter, a marketing company contracted by Gunzilla in 2024 is currently owed more than $100,000 for services rendered; Gunzilla has allegedly made multiple promises to pay through 2026, including a formal letter of commitment, but no payments have been forthcoming.

The source said that Gunzilla's failure to pay wasn't a sudden change in the working relationship between the two companies, but that it had never paid any invoices. The company in question began issuing warnings about failure to pay in spring 2025 and sent a formal demand letter for payment at the end of that year, but thus far has still received nothing.

Gunzilla has also been the subject of legal actions over its failure to pay other partners. The company's UK division is currently the subject of an active "winding-up petition," an application to the courts to wind up—ie, liquidate and close—a company that can't or won't pay its debts, filed by The Vertex Guild, an asset development studio. A second such petition was filed against Gunzilla by HM Revenue and Customs, the UK's tax and customs authority, supported by PC Gamer publisher Future Plc, but was withdrawn in March 2026 after Gunzilla paid Future's bill in full.

More Gunzilla contractors have also begun speaking out about their experiences with the studio. Technical animator Akhil Chinnabathini said he's gone six months without pay, largely on the promises of Korolev, who allegedly told employees during a January meeting that "everything was fine" and everyone would be paid.

"The anxiety this has caused is something I wouldn't wish on anyone," Chinnabathini wrote. "I let my family down, I made promises I couldn't keep, not because I didn't work for it, but because the people responsible for paying me simply chose not to.

"This isn't just about money anymore. It's about accountability, basic human dignity, trust and the damage that's done when leadership stays silent while employees suffer."

Marko Dijan, a lighting artist whose LinkedIn page indicates a nearly two-year run with Gunzilla through 2024-25, said he has three outstanding invoices dating back to August 2025. Dijan has "received several assurances that payment was coming soon," he wrote, but none were received; he was prompted to post his story after seeing Korolev's public statement about "haters" seeking to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

"That doesn't match my experience, as those concerns are raised by other contractors who are in the same situation as I am," Dijan wrote. "When I commented on the CEO's post to clarify that my invoices are still outstanding, my comment was removed, and I was blocked. That action tells you everything."

We reached out to Gunzilla for comment, but did not receive a response prior to press time.