FROMSOFTWARE has a notorious track record with the way employees are treated at the company. In 2019, a work review website based in Japan called “Career Connections” had an aggregate of 2.3 stars out of 5 with a total of 1572 reviews with half of those being < 3 stars. Employees shared how they were “pushed to our limits” and “pay was abysmal for no benefits… you work here for the experience and for the company on your resume, that is why they are able to get away with it.” With one of the lowest paying jobs in the gaming development market with employees earning a measly 23 thousand dollars a year, this is unacceptable for a studio with an office located in the highest cost of living area in Japan.

More recently with this new round of employee layoffs which has been the biggest so far in the companies history, the company doesn’t have many legs to stand on in terms of fair treatment of its workers. We reached out to a landscape designer who has been working at the company since 2011, “I and many others have worked here for more than a decade (since development Dark Souls and Bloodborne for some) it bothers me that the driving force of a lot of the creativity behind our studio is being taken for granted. From art departments to coding, we are being replaced by an AI with no feelings. They do not consider us human as they wouldn’t replace human with an inhuman.”

FROMSOFTWARE is yet to make a comment and is staying silent with their decision. It comes at a strange time as the expansion for their game Elden Ring which received high praise has yet to be released. Some theorize that the expansion cost the company an over abundant amount of funds that parent company Bandai refused to offer which lead to a bold decision of layoffs. “Take a pay cut” one former employee who wanted to remain anonymous said. “Our director makes around 20 times what we get, why should we take the hit?”