Nintendo Boss to Give Sweeping 10% Salary Raise to Retain Employees

While most of the players in the gaming industry continue to hemorrhage jobs, Nintendo is opting to take a different path. The Kyoto-based gaming giant has recently announced a 10% increase to base salaries for its employees, a move that highlights its commitment to talent retention while everyone else is laying off employees.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa made the announcement during a recent shareholder meeting, emphasising that maintaining competitive compensation is central to the company's strategy. The raise applies to the company's workforce, which has grown to over 8,200 employees, the highest headcount in Nintendo's history.

Betting on Employees Instead of Cost-Cutting

The timing of Nintendo's pay bump is striking. Over the past two years, major publishers including Microsoft, Take-Two, and a string of publicly traded studios have slashed thousands of positions, often citing efficiency targets and shareholder pressure.

According to president Shuntaro Furukawa, the pay increase, which was announced during the 86th Annual General Meeting held in Kyoto, indicates that, for the company, maintaining a reliable and stable workforce remains its priority. Furukawa explained that Nintendo views offering employees competitive compensation a crucial part of creating successful games in the long run, instead of looking at salaries as an avenue to place cutbacks.

'We maintain salaries at an appropriate level,' Furukawa's announcement went. 'We are implementing salary increases, such as raising the base salary by 10%.'

Nintendo has always tried to avoid staff cuts in the past. The Japanese company has continued to stress that it favours stable employment along with long-term game development, noting that developing successful franchises largely depended on experienced teams that can remain intact over several years.

Nintendo's decision also reflects economic factors in Japan, where government leaders have urged corporations to lift wages in response to persistent inflation. But where other companies treat such calls as suggestions, Nintendo seems to view them as orders.

The Advantage of Retaining Employees

Nintendo's emphasis on keeping employees around shows up in hard numbers. The company boasts a 98% annual retention rate, which means the average Japanese employee has spent roughly 15 years at the firm. Compared to the US, where workers typically stay at a job for about four years, the contrast seems startling.

By increasing base pay across its Japanese workforce, Nintendo is choosing to invest in stability instead of cutting expenses. The company believes retaining employees is crucial for producing the high-quality games that have defined franchises such as Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and The Legend of Zelda for decades.

Strong Momentum Gives Nintendo Room to Invest

The company's decision to invest in its employees comes as Nintendo builds on the recent success of the Nintendo Switch 2 release. The hybrid console has seen a strong demand since its launch in June 2025, and has largely helped the company begin its new hardware cycle in positive spirits. With fresh titles arriving alongside the system, Nintendo is looking to maintain that momentum in the months ahead.

Nintendo also recently released updates and new entries in popular game titles such as Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Pokémon, a move that remains vital to its strategy to continuously drive player engagement. As such, maintaining a steady flow of games is expected to be key as Nintendo competes for players in an increasingly crowded and sometimes volatile market.