FromSoftware: testimonies speak of crunch and low wages for Elden Ring studio

This is what employees had to say about the studio

FromSoftware: testimonies speak of crunch and low wages for Elden Ring studio

This is what employees had to say about the studio

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Following the resounding success of Elden Ring, some of the problems FromSoftware employees would be dealing with have been brought up on Twitter and other portals.

GamesIndustry.biz recently spoke with several FromSoftware employees to better understand the situation and how much truth there is to the rumours that have been chasing around in recent months. The studio does not allow employees to give interviews, regardless of whether they still work at From Software or not. Therefore, all sources preferred to remain anonymous.

Are the work conditions that bad?

The testimonies collected offer a picture of the situation that is not always uniform, with working conditions varying wildly depending on the specific department. "There was not a lot of overtime work for me," said one source. In contrast, another employee said, "During critical periods of game builds, I often had to work early in the morning and work overtime for two or three months."

On average, an annual salary at FromSoftware is 3.41 million yen, a smaller amount than that given to developers at Atlus (5.2 million yen), a similarly sized development company. Compared to the cost of living in Tokyo, one source said that "FromSoftware's salary is not adequate."

It was also stated that overtime was "generally included in the salary." After midnight, however, "we were paid for night overtime, but that was half of our usual hourly rate."

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It seems, in any case, that opinion about one's work situation varies widely within FromSoftware and that there is no general crisis within the company. There also seems to be a great deal of satisfaction among employees, with several sources giving positive accounts of their experience, although they had some criticisms to make.

What are your opinions about this working place experience? Let us know in the comments!

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