The developers at FromSoftware, the studio best known for the Dark Souls games, faced questions from media about workloads and compensation. Sources close to socialbites.ca indicated that interview material came from current and former staff at the Japanese company as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.
Key findings showed that FromSoftware’s leadership discouraged staff from talking to the press. The policy appeared to cover not only current employees but retirees as well, a detail raised by multiple interviewees.
Several participants described regular overtime, with one account noting a typical three-month period of intense work. A former employee compared the overtime cycle to a boss battle in a Dark Souls game, suggesting that overcoming the rework phase carried a sense of achievement similar to clearing a difficult level in the series.
There were others who pushed back against the stereotype of relentlessly grueling hours in Japanese game development. Some interviewees indicated that FromSoftware observes nonworking holidays and prioritizes weekends with minimal distractions. Data from those accounts suggested that about 90 percent of staff depart the office by 9 p.m., while those who linger past 10 p.m. were said to risk formal reprimands.
Anonymous voices within FromSoftware reportedly praised the studio for handling financial transactions, while admitting that nighttime work arrangements were compensated only partially as overtime. At least one contact with GamesIndustry.biz voiced concern about comparatively low wages, arguing that salaries did not align with the high cost of living in Tokyo housing markets.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, the average annual salary for a FromSoftware employee sits around 3.4 million yen, roughly converted to 1.5 million rubles at the exchange rate on November 29. In contrast, Atlus developers earned closer to 5.2 million yen per year, about 2.3 million rubles at the same rate. This gap in compensation was presented as a potential factor behind the perceived salary disparity within the Japanese game industry.
Analysts and journalists suggest that the comparatively lower pay at FromSoftware may reflect its smaller scale relative to other studios in Japan’s game development sector, rather than a universal pattern across the industry.
Earlier coverage by socialbites.ca touched on similar concerns in the past, noting complaints from a performer who partnered with Platinum Games for a modest fee, underscoring broader conversations about earnings in the Japanese gaming ecosystem and the balance between creative work and pay. [Source attribution: GamesIndustry.biz]