Amidst record layoffs in the gaming industry from Microsoft, Take-Two, and ByteDance, Nintendo did a 180 and is offering 10% pay raises for employees.
While profits from the company that created Super Mario cut profit forecast by 4% totaling 480 Billion Yen for the quarter, Nintendo has still promised to hike employee wages by 10% Reuters reports. This comes directly on the heels of Japan Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida urging businesses to give workers a pay increase to combat record inflation around the globe. CNN reports that Japan hasn’t seen workers get “a raise in 30 years” which adds to the mounting pressure of the record inflation. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said “It’s important for our long-term growth to secure our workforce,” regarding the pay raises.
Furukawa also told Reuters ‘the Kyoto-based company does not plan to raise software or game console prices, but would consider doing so if circumstances demanded it.’ A report earlier today echoed that very sentiment, where The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was temporarily found on the Switch eShop for $89.99 CAD NintendoLife reports. The new price also mimics the price increase on next gen Microsoft and Sony consoles, where Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5 titles have already been inflated for new and digital games.
All of the pricing and wage increase news comes directly on the heels of a newly announced Nintendo Direct that will be taking place later today. The Direct has been said to focus on new upcoming software for the Switch, and is set to be roughly 40 minutes in runtime. The Direct will air at 5:00 p.m. EST, fans can swing over to the official Nintendo YouTube account to watch the livestream when it begins. Or fans can just hit the play button above.
