In our world, hearing that someone is getting a raise usually provokes the response of, “Man, I wish that was me” or, “I wish my company would do that for us.” It’s a sad fact of life that plenty of people and positions out there work really hard but aren’t getting the payment they’re due. You’d think the video game space would be different given the kind of entertaining work that is going on, but that’s not always the case, as we’ve seen over the last several years. But with the team at Monolith Soft, who make the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise, they’re not adhering to “traditions.”
Instead, they decided that they would give raises to people throughout the company, even those who were merely graduates who started working at the company. They acknowledged in a statement that there are “rising prices” in daily life, and that means that you need more to live, so they’re going to help with that:
To be blunt, many developers could learn from Monolith Soft on this matter, as the global economy isn’t in the best of places due to inflation, war, and tense political times. Now is not the time to horde money for oneself, now is the time to ensure that everyone working at a place can afford to live off of what they’re making.
In gaming terms, Monolith Soft has been one of the hardest-working developers over the last several years. Just on the Nintendo Switch, they’ve released or remastered three mainline titles of the Xenoblade Chronicles line, and they’ve provided expansive DLC for all three, including story DLC for each of them. In addition, the most recent game got the “Future Redeemed” story which ties the games together in a grand way to help send off the current storyline in style.
Plus, the team has been helping Nintendo with other properties to help get them done. So given the almost non-stop work that they’ve had, a raise is more than due.
The team are also masters at bringing out the most in the Nintendo Switch. Their third game made a vast, beautiful world you could experience in great detail even when playing in handheld mode. Given their abilities and what they’ve produced, fans are already excited to see what they create next. The team has already admitted they’re fine with continuing their current franchise, but they could also diverge and do something else. Either way, you know they’ll work hard at whatever they make.
