Level-5
Working at the studio behind Professor Layton comes with a pretty unusual way to earn a pay rise, involving a quiz about Level-5’s games.
When you go into an interview for a company, it’s always best to do some research into the business you’re hoping to work for. Knowing when it was founded, what it’s worked on, and a few fun facts are always bound to put you in a better standing when speaking to your potential bosses.
Well, that apparently spans even after you’ve got the job at Professor Layton studio Level-5, after its CEO revealed he hosts internal quizzes on their games for the chance to get a pay rise.
Professor Layton devs host quizzes to grant pay rises
In a translated interview with Famitsu, it was revealed that Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino conducts a “content knowledge test, and employees who score highly will receive a salary increase of around (redacted) yen, regardless of their career level.”
Essentially, regardless of whether they’re new to the company or have worked there for years, Hino explained how he regularly conducts tests on the company and their games to see “how well they understand the company’s content.” After all, the more they know, the better they’ll be able to make games in iconic franchises, like Professor Layton.
He also explained that the company is “thinking of raising the amount to (redacted) yen in the future,” so Level-5 employees might want to brush up on the company’s past games.
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Level-5
Hino went on to explain: “Making games has made me realize something: when you entrust a task to someone, whether or not they have knowledge of that title is truly important. If they lack the knowledge, you’ll need other members to support and check their work.
“On the other hand, if they have the knowledge, they can become the central figure and streamline the work. In other words, we now consider knowledge of and love for the company’s works to be a ‘skill.’ And it can also be said to be a part of our company’s value. You were surprised by the amount earlier, but if you consider it as a company cost, it represents an efficiency gain that is even greater than that.”
Of course, to work on renowned puzzle games like Professor Layton, it always helps to be good at quizzes and thinking on the fly, so it makes sense that the studio is so fond of implementing that in their own workplace.
Let’s just hope the questions aren’t as complicated as they are in Professor Layton games, or you’ll be searching around the office, desperate for that hint coin.
