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[Draugoth]

Source

Konami announced that it will raise all employees salary by 5,000 yen per month (approx. $33USD)

They will also raise the starting salary for new graduates to by 5,000 yen to 300,000 yen per month.

It is their third consecutive year of salary increases

 

[TVexperto]

damn!! thats a nice salary!

 

[Sakura]

I can almost make the same amount working at Walmart.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Good on Konami as the Yen is currently weak vs the USD, EURO, GBP so every little increase helps!

Also:



For newly graduates that 300k a month salary should be decent enough even if they live alone.

 

[Porcile]

They do have that nice building in Roppongi but Roppongi itself is a bit of a shit hole.

 

[Big Baller]

 

[The Cockatrice]

Yakuza increases their henchmen's salary.

 

[Wildebeest]

Yakuza increases their henchmen's salary.

The accepted wisdom is that Yakuza wouldn't dare treat people as bad as Konami does.

 

[Porcile]

300k is good for a graduate depending on the work environment. With a couple bonuses that's close to 4 million a year. Definitely enough to get by if you're single in Tokyo. I wonder how it is at Konami though. What do they even make in-house these days? PES, Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Goemon, Contra are all either dead or outsourced basically.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Good for them, hoping their next few titles are solid. Would be cool to see them really come back and stick around.

 

[Camreezie]

Now if they can just increase the quality of their games

 

[StereoVsn]

300k is good for a graduate depending on the work environment. With a couple bonuses that's close to 4 million a year. Definitely enough to get by if you're single in Tokyo. I wonder how it is at Konami though. What do they even make in-house these days? PES, Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Goemon, Contra are all either dead or outsourced basically.

I mean it’s not good by any means, but it’s enough to live on. It would be easier with a roommate, but I am not sure if folks in Japan do that.

Also, a lot of companies will give out transport subsidy so that can help as well.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

So $400 US/yr increase. Wow.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

 

[DaciaJC]

Source

Konami announced that it will raise all employees salary by 5,000 yen per month (approx. $33USD)

Am I reading this right, the equivalent of 33 dollars per month? So about 400 extra dollars per year?

Doesn't exactly sound significant.

 

[diffusionx]

This is because inflation is hitting Japan in a way it has not for a long time, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

 

[RyRy93]

Just under £19k a year before tax? That’s dreadful

 

[Holammer]

I can almost make the same amount working at Walmart.

Japan has been a low-income country since the bubble burst in '91.
Average wage in America is twice that of Japan. One of the reasons why everyone and their dog recommend you don't go there to work, unless you're a total weeb that wants to live in glorious nippon.

 

[hemo memo]

Now if they can just increase the quality of their games

They do. They keeps innovating on its pachinko machines, releasing improved models year after year.

 

[KaiserBecks]

I thought they paid their employees in pachinko credits. Looks like theyre doing well. Always nice to see when a company takes care of their workforce.

 

[Aenima]

Gotta keep them motivated to polish those pachinko machines.

 

[AJUMP23]

2k a month seems like a low starting salary. 300k a month sounds like a great salary. I have no idea what rent or cost are like where Konami is located.

New grads in my area (technical jobs) earn 80k or 1.2 million yen annually.

 

[Negotiator101]

300k is good for a graduate depending on the work environment. With a couple bonuses that's close to 4 million a year. Definitely enough to get by if you're single in Tokyo. I wonder how it is at Konami though. What do they even make in-house these days? PES, Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Goemon, Contra are all either dead or outsourced basically.

It sounds alot until you covert it into £ and then it's not.

 

[Shut0wen]

NOOOOOOOOO KONAMIS EVILLLLL

NOOOOOOOOOO
BUT KOJIMA NOOOOOOOOO

 

[DragonNCM]

So $400 US/yr increase. Wow.

Dude....that will almost brake their bank

 

[GHound]

Westerners keep getting laid off but the Japanese keep getting raises.

Edit: hell even the Japanese publishers that are laying people off are laying off people from their American/European divisions.

 

[Rayderism]

Probably their responsibilities increase more than their pay. I doubt Konami is giving them raises out of the goodness of their heart.

 

[LazyParrot]

Japanese wages are more or less frozen in time.
The cost of living can be really low in Japan so it's been working out so far, but that's changing and people are starting to feel the effects.

 

[Beechos]

That pachinko money being spread around I see.

 

[Porcile]

It sounds alot until you covert it into £ and then it's not.

Why would you do that? You use yen in Japan, not £s or $s so it's an irrelevant point. Anyone who planning to work for Konami in Japan is obviously either Japanese or someone who is in Japan long-term. You would have to be fluent in Japanese to get a job there in the first place.

 

[Porcile]

I mean it’s not good by any means, but it’s enough to live on. It would be easier with a roommate, but I am not sure if folks in Japan do that.

Also, a lot of companies will give out transport subsidy so that can help as well.

300k is good for a fresh graduate in Japan. Presumably they would rise through the ranks within a few years too and pick up a pay rise along the way. The issue is the working environment and whether or not you are working 10am to 10pm or some bullshit like that.

 

[StereoVsn]

300k is good for a fresh graduate in Japan. Presumably they would rise through the ranks within a few years too and pick up a pay rise along the way. The issue is the working environment and whether or not you are working 10am to 10pm or some bullshit like that.

It just shows how much people are underpaid really. Japan is cheaper vs most of Western Europe and US, but it’s still expensive, especially in Tokyo and other major cities.

And yeah, the work culture sucks in general unless you are working for US/European multinational.

 

[tmlDan]

Good on Konami as the Yen is currently weak vs the USD, EURO, GBP so every little increase helps!

Also:



For newly graduates that 300k a month salary should be decent enough even if they live alone.

32k/yr is enough? Japan is pretty expensive even for our salaries. That's not great at all.

 

[Fafalada]

It is their third consecutive year of salary increases

I suspect this is bad wording - but it makes it sound like normally noone gets an increase in Konami - it's only out of their goodness of will that you get a raise -_-

 

[UltimaKilo]

So $400 US/yr increase. Wow.

Something I’d welcome. Some people don’t know the value of money. I’d be investing an extra $400 a year which would compound.

 

[Fafalada]

You would have to be fluent in Japanese to get a job there in the first place.

It's possible to get by without Japanese at least in larger corps - but it comes with its own set of challenges.
But yes - local currency purchasing power is what matters, not some arbitrary centralized conversion.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

32k/yr is enough? Japan is pretty expensive even for our salaries. That's not great at all.

Someone explained it way better in the last thread we had about these wage increases for new graduates in the Japanese game industry:

The average tax rate is about 20%. For a new hire fresh out of college, this is a pretty competitive wage. Furthermore, there are fully furnished apartments with free fiber internet for only 47,000 yen/$315 USD a month that are 2.2 miles from Capcom's office. That's walking distance. When you zoom out and take yourself and your own country out of the equation, it's a pretty solid deal.

So.. After tax the net income for one of these employees is 240,000 yen or $1,600 USD. $315 goes to the apartment I mentioned. That leaves $1,285. No car or car insurance really necessary for a young person fresh out of college in Japan. An unlimited cellphone data plan from SoftBank is about 7,500 yen or $50. Health insurance is factored in through work. That leaves $1,235 for any remaining utilities like water, power, trash, that I might not be familiar with, and food. Many Japanese people eat their meals largely from convenience stores like 7/11, where a lunch box might be 350¥/$2.35. Now let's say this person gets 2 meals a day from 7/11. a bite on the way to work for breakfast and maybe a lunch later on. Then they spend three times that on dinner. That comes out to roughly 35,160¥/$235 for the month for meals during working days.

Let's break it down in a more digestible fashion.

300,000¥/$2,000 - Gross income.
240,000¥/$1,600 - After tax NET income.

-47,000¥/$315 - local apartment including furniture and internet.
-7,500¥/$50 - Unlimited cellphone plan.
-35,160¥/$235 - Food during the week.
150,340¥/$1,000 - remaining for incidental utilities including water, power, trash, renters insurance, clothes and food for the weekends.

Honestly $1,000 a month free and clear after the majority of your bills and food are taken care of is more than most young people in the states have to their names.

To me, then, this seems somewhat unfair to say "oh wow that's so low" when -- in actuality when you break it down and factor their culture and lifestyles in, it's pretty fuckin good.

 

[Porcile]

It's possible to get by without Japanese at least in larger corps - but it comes with its own set of challenges.
But yes - local currency purchasing power is what matters, not some arbitrary centralized conversion.

Look at the credits of any Japanese produced game and you will probably see two or three foreign names and those are probably going to be Chinese or Korean names too. Game dev in Japan is 99% Japanese outside of localisation. Especially at a place like Konami which I would imagine is a pretty traditional company to work for. You definitely just can't turn up to Japan and expect to work in game dev as a transient expat with skills, but no Japanese ability and no knowledge of the culture. I know this myself from interviewing and applying for game dev and VFX jobs there. It's totally different to software and finance jobs where you can definitely get all English or all Chinese or all whatever jobs.

To be fair, in a lot of places and entry level positions you don't need to be a master of the language but you definitely need at least two or three years Japanese studying and speaking experience to get through interviews and be able to work without issues.

 

[IDKFA]

It sounds alot until you covert it into £ and then it's not.

It's around £1560 per month. In the UK, especially here in the south, that's a poor salary. Most people would struggle to live on that wage. Forget it if you're in London. That wage wouldn't even cover the rent for a one bedroom flat.

 

[Hudo]

Roppongi itself is a bit of a shit hole.

Yep. Even the locals call it a shit hole.

 

[tmlDan]

Someone explained it way better in the last thread we had about these wage increases for new graduates in the Japanese game industry:

I never said its unlivable, its certainly okay. Konami is located in Tokyo, not Osaka so average rent is about $800/mo with a 1-2k deposit on initial signing. After taxes 32k turns into 18k USD. which is a take home of 1,574/mo. So you have very little in disposable income tbh.

It's certainly better than North America or most of the EU now, especially major cities, i guess i'm still stuck in the past where your rent is supposed to be 30% of your take home income lol

 

[Fafalada]

Game dev in Japan is 99% Japanese outside of localisation. Especially at a place like Konami which I would imagine is a pretty traditional company to work for.

Tbh I never looked that closely at Konami but I know different studios that specifically had foreigner friendly positions opened (along with language support and more), so it does exist. It was usually studios within major companies like Square, Sega etc. I suspect also smaller studios can't afford the effort, but you may well be right some companies are more conservative than others also.
Like I said - it's 'possible' - not necessarily 'common', and definitely not 'easy'.

It's totally different to software and finance jobs where you can definitely get all English or all Chinese or all whatever jobs.

Yea tech should definitely be easier - there's big-tech presence in Japan also and those are very multinational everywhere.

i guess i'm still stuck in the past where your rent is supposed to be 30% of your take home income lol

I think rent above 30% is still completely nuts tbh, but that's why things like flat-sharing etc. are becoming so prevalent in higher cost areas too. It's just unaffordable to live normal adult life for many.

 

[ReyBrujo]

I can almost make the same amount working at Walmart.

Tech industry is like that, starting salaries are really low (down here in Argentina trainee and juniors usually earn less than a cashier) but in the long-term you end up way above (well, truth be told gaming industry is kind of abusive, salaries are lower than in other IT-related companies because managers know you would give up some money for keeping your dream job, but even then it should be well above average wages).

 

[digital_ghost]

*option to receive paycheck as panchinko playing credits.

 

[Kamina]

Pachinko business must be going well then

 

[cash_longfellow]

$2,000 a month is not too shabby over there for new grads. Still not great, but their economy isn’t wholly fucked like the United States right now.

 

[justiceiro]

Maybe they will be able to afford having children again.

 

[Loomy]

$2,000 a month is not too shabby over there for new grads. Still not great, but their economy isn’t wholly fucked like the United States right now.

Japans' economy isn't doing too great either...

 

[cash_longfellow]

Japans' economy isn't doing too great either...

Agreed, but it’s in a hell of a lot better shape than the American economy right now.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Now the two decade 4D long game of making nothing but pachinko machines and fucking wicked lines of coke is finally showing fruit that the unwashed laymen can appreciate. Congrats Mr. KONAMI, an entity I imagine looking very similar to an Asian Monopoly Man.