Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

Nintendo just dropped a surprisingly wholesome bombshell: president Shuntaro Furukawa told shareholders the company has raised employees’ base salary by 10% to help keep talent around. In ordinary human terms, that means the people making Mario, Zelda, and the new Switch 2 games are getting a real pay boost. And online? The reaction was part applause, part economics lesson, part classic internet nitpicking.

The biggest mood was basically: good, pay the people who make the fun stuff. One fan celebrated the simple dream scenario of "well paid employees, good results," while also flexing that they’re already loving Nintendo’s Switch 2 lineup. But then the debate machine kicked in. One commenter asked if yearly raises at big companies aren’t just… normal, which instantly changed the vibe from celebration to "hang on, is this actually generous?" Another jumped in with a reality check about Japan’s currency, pointing out the yen’s ugly slide against the U.S. dollar, while someone else bluntly said a 10% raise in Japan is shockingly high because money "doesn’t go far" there.

And then came the spicy Nintendo mythology. One passionate fan argued Nintendo wins because it acts more like a classic toy company than a soulless tech giant, focusing on pure fun instead of chasing every trendy gadget and money scheme. Translation: in the comments, this salary raise somehow became proof that Nintendo is the last good vibes company standing. Dramatic? Absolutely. But the crowd seems to love the storyline.