Level-5 offers staff significant pay rises for acing quizzes on its own games

Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has revealed that the Professor Layton studio runs internal knowledge quizzes based on its own games — and employees who ace them walk away with significant salary bumps. The exact figure hasn't been made public, but Hino told Famitsu it was large enough to visibly surprise the reporters he shared it with.

The logic behind the scheme is practical, not just quirky. Hino argues that staff who deeply know Level-5's catalogue can work more independently, mentor colleagues, and keep projects moving without constant hand-holding. "If their knowledge is insufficient, we'll need other team members to support them or review their work," he said. "On the other hand, if they do have that knowledge, they can take the lead and even streamline the workflow." He frames game knowledge as a genuine professional skill — one that generates efficiency gains worth more to the company than the pay rise itself.

Level-5 is the Fukuoka-based studio behind Professor Layton, Yo-kai Watch, Inazuma Eleven, and Ni No Kuni, so the quiz pool is anything but shallow. The studio's next major release is Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, due on PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2 later this year — notably the first Layton game to come to PC and PlayStation after years of Nintendo handheld and mobile exclusivity. The move stands out against a broader industry backdrop of mass layoffs: PlayStation recently gutted Bungie's workforce following the end of Destiny 2 development, and Microsoft is reportedly preparing another significant round of cuts as early as next week.

Level-5's approach won't fix the industry's wider turbulence, but it's a rare piece of good news for studio staff — and a reminder that knowing your company's games inside out might literally pay off.