Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata To Take 50% Pay Cut Due To Poor Performance

As you might have heard recently, the Nintendo Wii U is not doing so hot at the moment. Nintendo announced just last week that they would be slashing sales estimates of the Wii U from a respectable 9 million to an underwhelming 2.8 million. Of course it should be noted that sales estimates does not actually translate to actual sales, so the real numbers could be higher or low than what Nintendo expects, but as far as confidence in the company is concerned, well let’s just say that investors can’t be too happy about it.

Following that announcement, many expected Nintendo’s president, Satoru Iwata, to step down. Instead Iwata remained at the company and released a statement claiming that they had misread the market and were studying alternatives and new strategies. Well it turns out that while Iwata will be keeping his job, he will not be keeping his pay. According to a report from Nikkei, they claim that Iwata will be taking a massive pay cut, half of what he normally makes, due to the company performing poorly. Other company directors are expected to see their pay cut by 20-30%, which will begin next month and will last until June, after which a decision will be made depending on how things are with the company then.

This is not the first time that Iwata has taken a pay cut because back in 2011, he took a similar cut following poor 3DS sales, but considering that the 3DS is one of the best selling handheld consoles at the moment, perhaps things could turn around for the Wii U as well, but what do you guys think? Will the Wii U eventually recover like the 3DS did, or is it too late for them?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Nintendo