Persona 5 developer bucks latest development of layoffs, provides all workers 15% raises

Amidst large industry-wide layoffs and downsizing, Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei developer Atlus has given all workers a 15 p.c pay rise and upped the incomes of latest graduates to 300,000 yen ($1,977).

In line with a Nov. 14 press release by way of machine translation, Atlus will “revise the remuneration system for April 2024” to “enhance the setting during which the staff can carry out finest with a secure revenue.” All workers will obtain a 15 p.c improve of their salaries, and new college graduates becoming a member of the corporate will begin with 300,000 yen as an alternative of the earlier 257,000. The corporate claims this transfer is important to draw and retain expertise because it seeks “world growth.”

“As well as, because of the sturdy growth of abroad enterprise, we’ve been offering efficiency bonuses based mostly on worldwide income since 2021,” the corporate said within the machine-translated press launch.

This isn’t Atlus’ first wage improve, with the corporate giving workers a 5 p.c increase in April 2023.

This constructive growth in Atlus is starkly contrasted with the remainder of the gaming {industry}, as gaming and tech corporations are seeing large layoffs nearly day by day. Simply this 12 months, in 2023, over 6,000 jobs have been misplaced within the gaming {industry} alone, with latest examples together with Amazon Video games, Bungie, and 505 Video games. It’s refreshing to see not all is grim and darkish in gaming and tech, although the market continues to be unstable in the intervening time.

Wage will increase in Japan have change into extra frequent, because the nation is seeing a surge in inflation and financial growth for the primary time in three many years. Because the Nineteen Nineties, Japan has largely remained stagnant economically, with this 12 months’s rise in wages being amongst its most distinguished, based on Reuters.

Regardless of the causes, it’s solely excellent news to listen to of higher work situations within the gaming {industry}, and we hope that Atlus will set an instance for different tech and gaming studios.

Author: Ronnie Neal