Nintendo’s CEO Satoru Iwata Reaction to Layoffs Activates Positive Feedback

In the initial weeks of 2024, the gaming industry witnessed a significant wave of job cuts, prompting social media users to resurrect quotes from the late Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata.

Iwata, credited with the success of Nintendo DS and Wii during his tenure as the company’s president from 2002 until his passing in 2015, faced challenges with the less successful launch of the Wii U. In response to the failure, Iwata took an unconventional step for a tech CEO—opting for a 50% reduction in his pay to avert extensive layoffs, while other top executives concurrently accepted a 20% salary cut.

Iwata’s decision is being recalled amid the current job losses in the tech industry in the early months of 2024. In a statement from 2013, Iwata emphasized the importance of employee morale for sustained business success, expressing doubt that laying off staff would contribute positively to Nintendo’s long-term prospects.

These sentiments from Iwata are resonating once again on social media, with Nintendo enthusiasts applauding his stance and urging other high-ranking tech executives to emulate his example by slashing their salaries before resorting to mass layoffs.

The resurgence of Iwata’s remarks comes in the wake of Microsoft’s announcement of layoffs affecting 1,900 employees across Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax. Riot Games also revealed 500 job cuts this week. Notably, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick reportedly earned an average of $77,306 per hour in 2022, while Xbox head Phil Spencer boasted an annual salary of $10 million. Despite Kotick stepping down after the acquisition, Spencer has retained his position. Microsoft and Riot Games’ layoffs contribute to a total of nearly 24,000 job cuts from 85 different tech companies since the beginning of the year.

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