FromSoftware has risen in prominence since the launch of Elden Ring. Its open-world game sold in the millions, and outperformed titles like Horizon Forbidden West, and exceeded the expectations of many, including the developer. However, it wasn't all good news as reports surfaced that the Japanese developer's staff faced crunch-like conditions and low pay.
The studio famous for introducing the Soulsborne genre, made p💦opular with the critically acclaimed Dark Souls series and Bloodborne, has been the subject of an investigation by . The outlet spoke with a number of FromSoftware employees past and present and discovered that working at the developer is less than ideal.
Multiple sources, which all had to remain anonymous since FromSoftware forbids past and pr🌞esent employees from giving interviews, admitted to "some level of crunching" at the Elden Ring studio, the publication reported.
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But not all departments experienced it to the same degree, while it was more common as the ga♉mes neared release, which sadly has been the case for years in the industry. Overtime was compensated but after midnight the rate of overtime pay decreased. This is unusual in Japan where houཧrly wages often increase after midnight, one source revealed.
But the bigger complaints seemed to hinge on the salary or rather the low amount paid out by FromSoftware. Employees were eager to emphasise that the company is not a big one, and despite the success the studio ha💦s enjoyed in recent years FromSoftware remains relatively small a💛s it counted 349 employees as of May 2022.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that the average yearly salary for a FromSoftware employee is ¥3.41 million, which is almost $25,00ꦕ0. As the outlet observed, this is much less than the ¥5.2 million ($38,000) that staff from the similarly sized Atlus take home.
Meanwhile, the cost of living in Tokyo is high and one source said the salary was not "adequate" and revealed that others at the developer shared the same dissatisfaction over pay. The average monthly salary for a games developer in Japan ranges from the equivalent of $1,675 to $5,328. But FromSoftware's recently advertised roles start from around $1,595 per month.
While Elden Ring's publisher Bandai Namco announced in February that it would be increasing wages for all employees, it seems that FromSoftware isn't taking the same action. Taking all this into account, those who work there aren't all negative about the working experience.
Even with their complaints, some still described working at FromSoftware positively. "It's kind of tense in a way. There's a lot of struggle to get things right, but if you get over the hump it is very satisfying," one source told GamesIndustry.biz. "It's just like you defeated a boss in Dark Souls."
Another said: "It's been a great experience," and described the passion and talent that goes into creating a triple-A title. FromSoftware has yet to provide any comment to the publication's article.