Current and former FromSoftware employees have spoken about the issues the company has and shared their experience of working there.
Following the great success FromSoftware's most recent title, Elden Ring, gained a number of negative reviews on the internet claiming that the studio has issues with its working culture including demanding its employees to work overtime and low pay.
GamesIndustry.biz has recently talked to several current and former FromSoftware employees to try to get a better understanding of which of these claims are reliable and how they influence the studio's staff.
According to people who talked to the outlet, there is indeed "some level of crunching" at the company. However, judging by multiple employees' responses, GamesIndustry.biz believes that this situation varies by department as some sources stated that "there hasn't been much overtime work" for them, while others replied that they have to work overtime. Still, those people noted that it only happened during "critical periods of game releases."
Speaking of the compensation for the periods when staff had to work more than usual, one FromSoftware employee admitted that overtime was "generally included in the salary." At the same time, however, they added that hourly wages for late-night overtime were twice lower than the usual hourly rates which, as GamesIndustry.biz notes, is unusual for Japanese companies where hourly wages after midnight are usually increased.
Despite all this, however, a lot of employees are apparently quite satisfied with working at FromSoftware – multiple people whom the outlet talked to, including those who spoke about various issues at the company, described their experience at the studio as positive.
One of the studio's employees also emphasized that FromSoftware is "not a big organization" and asked people to offset their criticism of the company's working culture and pay.
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