Nintendohas announced that it is dedicated to increasing the pay of all its employees by 10%. This comes as the publisher also sees a profit reduction prediction for 2023.
Nintendo President Suntaro Furukawa committed to the pay increase during the company’s earnings call this week,according to Kotaku. The announcement follows on the heels of record inflation in Japan — the highest it’s been since 1981 — and Prime Minster Fumio Kishida urging companies to increase the pay for their workers to keep up. Furukawa explained, “It’s important for our long-term growth to secure our workforce,” as quoted by Reuters.
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While this news was positive, the rest of the earnings called highlighted disappointing fiscal numbers. Switch console sales have dropped even though 2022 saw some breakout titles likePokémon Scarlet & Violet, which became thefastest-selling games in Nintendo history. Even with this new record, profits for the company are down, with the publisher announcing a lower fiscal projection for 2023 than initially predicted.
The announcement has so far only covered Nintendo and its owned subsidiaries in Japan, so at this time there is no confirmation if contractors will see this increase as well. Nintendo of America employees have reported higher pay in the last few months, so it’s possible that the international arms of the publisher will also see pay bumps. The increases are a rather bright spot in the industry, as the last month has seenlayoffs at major companies such as Microsoft,Take-Two, andEA, among others. Many companies are citing the rising inflation and seemingly pending economic recession as the reason for these layoffs, which have been contested by sources in the industry; namely ananonymous source from Bungie.
“In 2008, a year after Halo released an unprecedented economic crisis hit the US and the world,” the alleged employee has said. “Bungie ended up hiring more people and made ODST and Reach. It’s not always the economy”. Whatever the cause for the layoffs may be, these companies are seeing profits, which should be all the more reason to keep staff on board. This mishandling of inflation costs has also seen a walkout strike by employees ofUbisoftFrance, who claim they cannot keep up with France’s ballooning cost of living.
As previously mentioned, it is unclear if international branches of Nintendo will see the bump, though Kotaku was able to talk to one source who is a QA tester at Nintendo of America, who said their pay went from $16 an hour to $20. “I think everyone expressing their frustration about the pay is finally paying off and everyone in the department is discussing it more openly now instead of keeping wages a secret,” Kotaku’s source said. While not necessarily a step toward unionization, this measure shows Nintendo seems to be taking a more active interest in the well-being of its employees as well as the experience they provide. This isn’t the first time Nintendo has made pro-employee moves, as the late Satoru Iwata took a pay reduction in response to the commercial failings of the 3DS and WiiU.
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