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.
