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Japanese software developer SalesNow recently released a ranking of domestic game companies based on the average yearly income of employees. Nintendo was the third highest ranked game developer on the list. Notably, Square Enix did not rank among the top 20.

Covering the period from June 2024 to June 2025, the ranking is based on data from SalesNow DB, one of Japan's largest corporate information databases, covering about 5.4 million companies. According to the press release by SalesNow, their database pulls information from commercial and real estate registries, tax office disclosures, Japan's government gazette, and data made public by government agencies and companies. In other words, these figures may differ from information officially disclosed by the companies in question.

According to the findings, the company with the highest average annual income in the game industry in the past year was multi-industry conglomerate Sony Group, at approximately 11.13 million yen (roughly $75,000 USD based on recent exchange rates). In second place was video game and toy manufacturing giant Bandai Namco Holdings, with an average salary of around 10.95 million yen (roughly $75k). These were the only two companies to exceed the 10-million-yen mark.

Nintendo came in third at about 9.63 million yen (around $65k USD), followed by Sega in fourth and mobile game developer Akatsuki in fifth. Companies ranked 4th to 8th seem to fall within the 8-million-yen range, while those ranked 9th to 14th are in the 7-million-yen range. The remaining companies in the 15th to 20th spots all had average salaries of over 6 million yen.

While US dollar conversions may make these figures look low overall when compared to average salaries in North America, GameBusiness.jp highlights that the average annual income of Japanese workers across all industries was around 4.26 million yen in 2024, which points to how high the average salaries in this ranking are in a domestic context.

Top 20 Japanese game companies based on average yearly income revealed. Nintendo ranks third - AUTOMATON WEST

According to findings by SalesNow, these were the Japanese game companies with the highest average salaries in the past year.

automaton-media.com

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Game wise Capcom deserves to be first simply because of Resident Evil.

 

[R6Rider]

Damn, a lot of these are very low. Capcom is shockingly low.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

lol even FuRyu pays their employees better than Square Enix? That explains a lot.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Game wise Capcom deserves to be first simply because of Resident Evil.

Many people don't care for RE. You can't rank a publisher based on a single game.

 

[Tg89]

I'd be interested in the median. My understanding (probably incorrect) is that the high end salaries in Japan are not nearly on the level of those in the States.

 

[Wastelander92]

Damn, a lot of these are very low. Capcom is shockingly low.

This is based on employee income.

 

[jm89]

$57k at akatsuki?

I'd be looking somewhere else if I was Itachi.

 

[ReyBrujo]

In line with what we knew, it's cheaper to develop there than in America or Europe. Seeing those values I guess Tose is like 30k or lower.

 

[R6Rider]

This is based on employee income.

I know.

 

[Robb]

"Average yearly income" and they only have data for one year? Or am I misreading it?

 

[Hudo]

Bamco being #2 is something I would not have guessed.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Damn, a lot of these are very low. Capcom is shockingly low.

Agreed especially since Resident Evil is the best game there compared to the other company listed there.

 

[Spyxos]

Didnt expect Namco so high up and Sega even more.

 

[March Climber]

Sega made the top 5

 

[March Climber]

Bamco being #2 is something I would not have guessed.

Didnt expect Namco

Remember, it is Namco and Bandai.

Many gamers forget about the Bandai side.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

Sega made the top 5

Yeaaah!

 

[Kotaro]

Sony has many divisions, are they just counting their gaming division employees? if they are, then most of Sony's game employees are in North America, so of course Sony's salary is much higher

 

[PlayStaytion]

So the "imagine defending a billion dollars corporations from you s bedroom" excuse is invalid?

 

[Little Mac]

Did they include Nintendo's highest earner?

 

[jm89]

Sony has many divisions, are they just counting their gaming division employees? if they are, then most of Sony's game employees are in North America, so of course Sony's salary is much higher

Seems just Japanese employees data?

database pulls information from commercial and real estate registries, tax office disclosures, Japan's government gazette, and data made public by government agencies and companies

 

[March Climber]

So the "imagine defending a billion dollars corporations from you s bedroom" excuse is invalid?

...It's selective.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Nintendo is Kin...

 

[Kotaro]

Seems just Japanese employees data?

ok, but still, Sony has only 2 studios in Japan, Polyphony and the Astrobot team, AND hardware engineers, which typically make more than game developers. that's why their salary average is much higher.

I'm more impressed with Bamco's average salary

 

[StereoVsn]

lol even FuRyu pays their employees better than Square Enix? That explains a lot.

Yep, that's beyond ridiculous.

 

[jm89]

ok, but still, Sony has only 2 studios in Japan, Polyphony and the Astrobot team, AND hardware engineers, which typically make more than game developers. that's why their salary average is much higher.

I'm more impressed with Bamco's average salary

Nintendo will also have hardware engineers.