Report claims FromSoftware pays developers just $25,000 and even less for overtime
In a new report, FromSoftware - the developer behind Elden Ring and Dark Souls - has been accused of paying low salaries and even reducing pay to half for overtime after midnight.
Overtime is "generally included in the salary," said one employee. After midnight, "we were paid late-night overtime but that was half of our usual hourly rate."
The report from GIBiz spoke to multiple current and former FromSoftware staff under anonymity, as they are not permitted to give press interviews.
During the course of their investigation, they found that some developers were expected to work long hours for months leading up to release, despite low salaries of ¥3.41 million (equivalent to just under $25,000).
With a studio made up of 349 employees, that puts the average salary at FromSoftware over $13,000 lower than the similarly-sized Atlus, another Japanese game developer.
Annual rent in Tokyo, where the developer is based, works out at around $17,724 for a one-bedroom flat. Current job openings at FromSoftware back up this data.
One source said the "salary is not adequate". Some of the other sources, however, were happier with the situation, comparing working at FromSoftware to beating a boss in the studio's famously difficult game, Dark Souls.
