While much of the gaming industry continues to grapple with layoffs, restructuring, and rising development costs, Nintendo has taken a different approach by increasing employee compensation.

During its latest annual shareholders’ meeting, Nintendo confirmed that it has raised the base salaries of its employees by 10%, reinforcing the company’s long-term commitment to retaining talent despite ongoing challenges across the games industry.

Nintendo Confirms 10% Salary Increase

The announcement came during the 2026 Nintendo shareholders’ meeting, where company president Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about Nintendo’s workforce and the absence of a labor union within the company.

Responding to the question, Furukawa emphasized that Nintendo believes competitive compensation is essential for maintaining a strong workforce.

“We are maintaining salaries at an appropriate level. I believe it is important to keep compensation levels appropriate.”

He then confirmed that Nintendo has implemented a 10% increase in base salaries as part of its employee retention strategy.

The comments were translated and shared by NStyles on social media following the shareholder Q&A session.

A Different Strategy From Much of the Industry

Nintendo’s decision stands in stark contrast to the wider gaming industry, which has experienced thousands of layoffs over the past two years.

Major publishers and platform holders have reduced staffing levels, while numerous studios have either closed entirely or undergone significant restructuring.

At the same time, hardware manufacturers continue to face increasing production costs and slowing console sales in several markets.

Recent reports have shown declining hardware sales for both PlayStation and Xbox, while Microsoft has also announced additional price increases for its console lineup.

Against that backdrop, Nintendo’s salary increase sends a notably different message regarding investment in its workforce.

Rising Prices Haven’t Slowed Nintendo

Although Nintendo has recently increased prices for certain products and services—including Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions in Japan and upcoming Switch 2 price adjustments in North America—the company continues to enjoy strong hardware sales.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has maintained impressive momentum since launch, with demand remaining high despite the announced price increases scheduled to take effect later this year.

Rather than offsetting rising costs through workforce reductions, Nintendo appears focused on retaining experienced employees while continuing to invest in future projects.

Investing in Long-Term Stability

As development costs continue to rise across the gaming industry, attracting and retaining experienced talent has become increasingly important.

Nintendo’s decision to boost base salaries suggests the company views long-term employee stability as a key part of its strategy moving forward.

Whether other major publishers follow a similar approach remains to be seen, but at a time when layoffs dominate gaming headlines, Nintendo’s announcement offers a rare example of a major studio investing directly in its workforce instead of reducing it.