Atlus, the developer behind the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, has announced that it is raising the average annual salary for its employees by 15%.
In a stark contrast to the seemingly endless lay-offs hitting the industry of late, new graduates at Atlus will see their starting salary rise by 300,000 yen (about $1,977) and all employees will see an annual salary rise of 15%. In a translated press release (thanks, Game Developer), Atlus states that the move is to ensure the company can attract and retain talent as it “promotes global expansion”.
In addition, thanks to strong overseas performance, Atlus has also introduced performance bonuses funded by worldwide profits, a move it initially kickstarted in fiscal year 2021. The press release itself states:
“The starting salary of new graduates will increase from 257,000 yen to 300,000 yen, and the average annual income of current employees will increase by 15%. In addition, due to the strong overseas business development, we have been providing performance bonuses based on profits around the world since fiscal 2021.”
It’s certainly good news in the wake of numerous instances of redundancies and studio closures over the past year or so, with companies like Embracer Group and Epic Games downsizing considerably. It seems Atlus is putting a good deal of focus on employee retention with this move, so hopefully we’ll see more companies follow suit in the months and years to come.
As for the Persona franchise, Atlus is just about ready to release Persona 5 Tactica, a tactical RPG based on the immensely successful Persona 5 Royal, on November 16th, 2023. We recently reviewed it and awarded the game a score of 9/10, calling it “massively enjoyable sendoff for the [Phantom Thieves]”.
Atlus, the developer behind the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, has announced that it is raising the average annual salary for its employees by 15%.
In a stark contrast to the seemingly endless lay-offs hitting the industry of late, new graduates at Atlus will see their starting salary rise by 300,000 yen (about $1,977) and all employees will see an annual salary rise of 15%. In a translated press release (thanks, Game Developer), Atlus states that the move is to ensure the company can attract and retain talent as it “promotes global expansion”.
In addition, thanks to strong overseas performance, Atlus has also introduced performance bonuses funded by worldwide profits, a move it initially kickstarted in fiscal year 2021. The press release itself states:
“The starting salary of new graduates will increase from 257,000 yen to 300,000 yen, and the average annual income of current employees will increase by 15%. In addition, due to the strong overseas business development, we have been providing performance bonuses based on profits around the world since fiscal 2021.”
It’s certainly good news in the wake of numerous instances of redundancies and studio closures over the past year or so, with companies like Embracer Group and Epic Games downsizing considerably. It seems Atlus is putting a good deal of focus on employee retention with this move, so hopefully we’ll see more companies follow suit in the months and years to come.
As for the Persona franchise, Atlus is just about ready to release Persona 5 Tactica, a tactical RPG based on the immensely successful Persona 5 Royal, on November 16th, 2023. We recently reviewed it and awarded the game a score of 9/10, calling it “massively enjoyable sendoff for the [Phantom Thieves]”.
