On the consumer side, who’s going to pay $1000+ — which is where we’re headed, price-wise — for the privilege of a slightly shinier Forza? (No shade on that fantastic series, but a system seller? In this economy?) Do Marcus Fenix, Master Chief, and assorted burly dudes have enough pull after 30 years and several stumbles to make expensive new hardware attractive?

Absolutely, anything’s possible – if the games are genuinely incredible. But who’s left to make them? What a nightmare.

And over on the other side of the street, you’ve got Nintendo merrily pumping out low-key releases over the summer. It’s all very quaint, with regulation doses of surprise, delight, and nostalgia from Rhythm Heaven Groove and Star Fox – quality games that come with a refreshing, very welcome lack of drama.

Which isn’t to say it’s been plain sailing. Nintendo has its own problems, perhaps most notably a looming price hike which bumps the cost of a Switch 2 to ‘hmm’ levels globally. Compared to Sony, Microsoft, and Valve’s asking prices, Switch 2 feels almost reasonable, but let’s not kid ourselves. When the opposition can’t pull their pants up without soiling themselves, just standing upright on the field looks pretty handy. But $500 is a big ask.

Yet compared to Sony and Microsoft binning institutional knowledge by sacking great swathes of their workforce, “greedy” Nintendo — the company that slapped an $80 price tag on the latest Mario Kart — now finds itself positioned as one of the good guys. How the hell did that happen?

In the current climate, though, there’s simply no competition. Nintendo presents as the most ‘ethical’ candidate on the platform-holder ballot right now, the only real choice for conscientious console gamers anxious to support the industry, its people, and its future.

Speaking in a recent investor Q&A, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa outlined the firm’s decades-old approach when asked how talent is cultivated and “Nintendo DNA” passed on to younger employees. The quotes are fairly chunky, but it’s worth reproducing them in full:

Furukawa: At Nintendo, we believe that employees can learn a great deal through their work experience. In addition to individuals improving their own knowledge and skills, we place importance on working as a team, in cooperation with senior colleagues, supervisors, and other team members.
To enable Nintendo’s unique and family-friendly entertainment, we value our Nintendo DNA, which consists of originality, flexibility, and sincerity. We believe it is important for each employee to have opportunities to gain a variety of experience while being exposed to these values in their daily work. Nintendo’s continued pursuit of new forms of fun and excitement has created opportunities for employees to take on challenges, which has also led to their personal growth.
In recent years, Nintendo and its subsidiaries have been increasing headcount mainly to strengthen development capabilities in hardware, software, and the system software that supports our hardware. Even as we do so, we are undertaking various efforts from both the frontline and management sides to ensure that the Nintendo DNA is consistently passed on. We would like to continue valuing initiatives such as having Executive Fellow Shigeru Miyamoto participate in new employee training each year, so that we can keep creating unique entertainment.

Another question asking how Nintendo shares profits with employees highlighted that, as well as reviewing employee compensation regularly, giving them a safe space to do their best work is a priority. I’ve bolded a particularly relevant section of the quote below:

Furukawa: Our basic approach is to set compensation levels appropriately, taking into account industry trends and broader societal conditions. Compensation forms the foundation of employees’ livelihoods, and if it fluctuates significantly with changes in business performance, it becomes difficult for them to work with peace of mind. We believe it is important to set appropriate compensation levels in order to maintain an environment where employees can take on the challenge of creating new entertainment without fear of failure.
In Japan, we raised base salaries by 10% in April 2023. Since then, we have continued to review our compensation system to ensure that employees are rewarded in a manner commensurate with their demonstrated abilities. In April 2026, we raised employee compensation again, including starting salaries. We will continue working to provide appropriate compensation for our employees.

This approach is nothing new, of course. Furukawa’s comments echo Satoru Iwata’s oft-quoted sentiments from a similar Q&A back in 2013 when the company was struggling in the Wii U era:

If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, however, employee morale will decrease, and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world. […] I also know that some employers publicize their restructuring plan to improve their financial performance by letting a number of their employees go, but at Nintendo, employees make valuable contributions in their respective fields, so I believe that laying off a group of employees will not help to strengthen Nintendo’s business in the long run.

Granted, keeping salaries competitive is basic stuff. But in a field where the competition is cutting employees left, right, and centre, fair compensation, wage increases, and prioritising “peace of mind” are frustratingly anomalous.

With workers elsewhere facing the axe whether their games succeed or fail, we’ve reached a point where “an environment where employees can take on the challenge of creating new entertainment without fear of failure” feels like some fairytale, fantasy scenario for developers when it should be the workplace norm.

Let’s not pretend that Nintendo is squeaky clean. Historically, we’ve seen strong-arming of third parties through restrictive licences, a ruthlessness in its business dealings (the sort which birthed the PlayStation, in fact), and a litigiousness bordering on overprotective from many a fan’s perspective. We’ve seen criticism of how it avoids ‘conflict minerals’ in its manufacturing and workplace contractor complaints in the Switch generation. On the consumer side, the Joy-Con drift debacle went on for years. Nintendo’s got its fair share of thorny issues.

When the opposition can’t pull their pants up without soiling themselves, just standing upright on the field looks pretty handy.

However, to paraphrase a certain comic book character, if it’s what you do which defines you, Nintendo is the only company right now not frantically throwing crew overboard while simultaneously trying to steady the ship and chart a new course through the tempest; the only one of the ‘Big Three’ truly investing in its people and the future of the industry. PlayStation and Xbox management bang on about what fans deserve while eradicating the work environments and cultures necessary to deliver to those fans.

Of course, Switch 2 has the luxury of being a generation or more behind the competition in pure tech terms — thanks to Nintendo’s foresight and action in the Wii era which steered them down a different path — so the company isn’t competing for contracts on bleeding-edge components. Launching in June 2025 into a mess of tariffs and global upheaval was suboptimal, but by capitalising on Switch’s success and extending its life cycle as long as possible, the Kyoto firm has its pipelines in place and strategy set to weather the storm, hopefully long enough to ride out RAMageddon.

Conversely, Sony and Microsoft are in the unenviable positions of launching successors to years-old consoles which A) feel like they’ve never really got into their groove, and B) nobody can afford anyway, let alone an even pricier next-gen iteration.

There’s every chance that Nintendo will announce a wave of layoffs the moment this goes live. Bad news comes so thick and fast these days, you can’t rule anything out. It does, however, feel less likely than with other companies. I wonder if the folks at Retro would be safe were they a Sony studio and Metroid Prime 4’s sales numbers didn’t blow the doors off. Combined across Switch 1 & 2, it has passed the million-seller mark, but would that satisfy Sony execs’ expectations after its long development?

Despite its foibles, you get the sense through its responses, actions, and output that Nintendo has a much longer-term and healthier vision for the future of video games. Or at least that they’ve given some thought to what’s over the horizon beyond the next fiscals.

Against the news from big industry players this summer that feels actively damaging to games as a medium, debates around the relative merits of MK8 vs. MKW or if a particular Switch 2 upgrade is worth it feel like blessed relief. Given the alternative, I’ll take a slow news day and a Fitness Boxing update, thanks.