Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa confirms the company is raising employee base salaries by 10% in Japan following recent calls to combat issues caused by inflation.
Nintendo’s decision to raise base salaries for employees in Japan comes directly after prime minister Fumio Kishida called on companies to pay workers more due to inflation. These higher salaries may help grow the workforce in Japan for Nintendo and other companies, which are currently being affected by a labor shortage. Japan is also preparing for its spring round of labor negotiations according to Reuters.
“It’s important for our long-term growth to secure our workforce,” Furukawa said in the company’s February 7, 2023 earnings briefing. Additionally, Furukawa acknowledges fluctuations in foreign market exchanges that may attribute to company sales and profits declining. However, the company expects strong sales for Nintendo Switch hardware and games in Japan and abroad going forward.
The Nintendo Switch reached 122.5 million units sold worldwide, surpassing the PlayStation 4 lifetime sales at 117.2 million. During the 2022 holiday quarter, Nintendo Switch sold eight million units worldwide. Nintendo Switch is now the third-best selling console of all time behind the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2.
Here’s the current list of top ten best selling Nintendo Switch titles:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Pokemon Sword / Pokemon Shield
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Pokemon Scarlet / Pokemon Violet
- Super Mario Party
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee!
Following the February 7 earnings briefing, Nintendo announced the next Nintendo Direct is set for February 8 at 2 p.m. PST. The Nintendo Direct features 40 minutes of information focusing on Nintendo Switch games releasing in the first half of 2023. Moreover, we expect a few game announcements for the second half of 2023 to be showcased in the Nintendo Direct.
Nintendo Switch is available now in base, Lite, and OLED models worldwide.
