The former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had an incredibly positive impact on the video game industry during his lifetime, and it seems FromSoftware's current president (and Elden Ring game director) Hidetaka Miyazaki has drawn from the teachings of this Nintendo legend.
Speaking to PC Gamer recently about the "brutal waves" of industry layoffs so far this year, Miyazaki cited the "old ex-president of Nintendo, Iwata-san", who took a 50 percent pay reduction during his time at the helm of the company, to ensure Nintendo's employees could focus on "making good things".
While Miyazaki can't say with "complete certainty" what exactly the future holds for the Dark Souls developer, as long as he is running FromSoftware, he says he would not allow layoffs to happen. Here's exactly what he had to say:
Hidetaka Miyazaki: "I think it was the old ex-president of Nintendo, Iwata-san, who said that 'people who are afraid of losing their jobs are afraid of making good things.' I'm paraphrasing that, but I totally share this view...I think it's true. And I think the people at Kadokawa, our parent company, understand that I hold this view very strongly. While we can't say 100%—we can't say with complete certainty what the future's going to hold for From and Kadokawa—at least as long as this company is my responsibility, that's something I would not let happen. So hopefully our players and our fans can take a little bit of assurance from that."
As the source notes, this is a "strong statement" and one that certainly stands out against some other recent comments from other video game heads who have gone on record mentioning how closures are "hard" but necessary in order to run a "sustainable business".
This week sees the arrival of the new Elden Ring DLC 'Shadow of the Erdtree'. You'll be able to find out more about this on our sibling sites Push Square and Pure Xbox. And if you're looking for a FromSoftware experience on your Switch, you can always check out Dark Souls: Remastered.
What are your thoughts about Miyazaki's comments? Let us know.
[source pcgamer.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 22
...I wished Iwata was still here, I miss him...
I miss iwata-san =(
F YEAH, RAISE THE NINTENDO FLAG AND FROM SOFTWARES FLAG!! UNITED IN GAME DEVELOPERS WE TRUST!!! WE ALL WIN IN THE END !!! LET'S F'ING GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Direct in the feels.
RIP Iwata-sama
It certainly is something that many western studios could learn from.
2023 may have been a large year for games, but it was an unfortunate year for many people who loss their jobs. The amount of lay offs cannot be understated and it just sucks.
From is the big money maker I suppose. If Kadokawa really wanted to roll heads to pad numbers, I suppose they could always toss out some people at Aquire, Spike, or ASCII.
There's hoping the new console will house more FromSoftware games than just the first Dark Souls - they deserve the audience.
Even as a kid I thought Mr. Iwata was so cool; he really loved Nintendo.
@Diogmites What are those things that Iwata said?
We will hold you to that, mister president.
Be careful that you don’t lay off people now, because you will get a ton of people reminding you of this!
@Jake_homs In their most recent podcast, Kit and Krysta were just talking about how the current president, Furukawa, used to accompany Iwata on pretty much all his business ventures in the latter years of his life. How Iwata was always passing on his philosophies onto him, as if taking him under his wing. That instilled a lot of confidence in me in his leadership; Iwata evidently saw a lot of potential in him, the same way Yamauchi saw potential in Iwata. He may not have Iwata's charming personality, or at the very least just doesn't like to be in the spotlight, which is fine. But I think he's doing a fine job running the company.
@Jiggies I know, I always just felt such unbridled joy when he was in front of the screen. I felt like a three-year-old sitting down to watch Barney the Disonaur whenever I saw his face. Some of the Nintendo Direct magic died with him, but Koizumi gives me very similar vibes. I'm always very happy to see him in Directs--it fills the void a little.
he grew up poor, so he's got more money than he could've ever dreamed of.
he gets it.
Sounds like Elden Ring on Switch 2 confirmed.
To whomever chose that second item for the "Related Articles" section: 🫡
What a crazy idea. Treat your workers well, make dope games, prosper.
And yeah I'd say if you are using Iwata as your mentor, you'll probably do pretty well.
Yeah a pay cut for the bosses should be a given, before firing people. ‘Laying off’ is a disgusting term. Don’t use euphemisms for people’s lives being made miserable.
RiP Iwata-san.
And huge respect to Miyazaki-san.
🤜🤛
Good words work better with proper dandori. I think from software has three options, make smaller indie like games so that they have the budget to fail, with the potential to profit... This is the warchest approach where less spending is good. The second is to make a big AAA game and hope it sells well. This is what most AAA publishers are doing... and I don't think it works very well.
What nintendo does is make games that they think will succeed alongside games they want to make, so that they can be pleasantly surprised and well as sustained. I think I'd reccoment this approach, as sustainability comes before making what you want, even if making what you want is the end goal. Funny how surprise and delight works in their business model.
I wish the West would take some of the Japanese idealogies in the work place... I also wish we still had Iwata.... I miss him greatly
Obviously hope that neither FromSoftware nor its parent company Kadokawa ever have to face such a situation but still, love to hear Miyazaki-san shares Iwata-san's view on such a critical matter, how I wish more (especially in the West, but also elsewhere) would follow the latter's example!
The fact that "treating your workers well" is such a rarity these days is atrocious. But good on FromSoftware and of course thank you to the late, wonderful Iwata-san.
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