Nintendo has raised employee base salaries by 10%, a permanent bump that lands while much of the games industry is busy handing out pink slips instead of paychecks.
The increase applies to base pay, not a one-off bonus. Base salary feeds into future raises, bonus calculations, overtime rates, and retirement contributions in Japan’s compensation system.
Japan has seen real inflation return after decades of stagnant prices, with groceries, taxes, and household costs all climbing. The yen has also weakened sharply against the dollar, squeezing real wages. Raising base pay is one of the more direct ways a company can respond.
Most of gaming has been moving in the opposite direction. Microsoft has cut thousands of jobs across Xbox and its studios. Sony has trimmed hundreds, including a brutal round at Bungie. Embracer, EA, Ubisoft, Unity, and Riot have all shed staff during the post-pandemic correction.
Nintendo has largely avoided that wave. The Kyoto company runs a famously conservative operation: modest hardware specs, heavy reliance on first-party franchises like Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon, and very few big-ticket acquisitions. No live-service pivot, no studio shopping spree, no AAA arms race. Cash reserves stay fat, layoffs stay rare.
It also isn’t the first time Nintendo has done this. The company pushed through a similar 10% base salary hike for its Japan-based staff back in 2023, citing the need to secure talent. The latest move continues that direction.
Nintendo isn’t alone among Japanese publishers raising wages either. Sony Interactive Entertainment has lifted starting salaries in Japan to record highs, and Capcom, Sega, and Bandai Namco regularly appear near the top of local salary rankings. Direct comparisons are messy though, since Tokyo-based companies tend to pay more to match higher living costs, and Nintendo sits in Kyoto.
What still needs clarifying is the scope: whether the raise covers Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe staff, contract workers, or only full-time employees at the Japanese parent company.
