{"id":66101,"date":"2026-07-04T18:33:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66101"},"modified":"2026-07-04T18:33:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:33:01","slug":"professor-layton-developer-gives-significant-pay-rises-for-answering-quizzes-about-the-companys-games-ceo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66101","title":{"rendered":"Professor Layton Developer Gives &#8216;Significant&#8217; Pay Rises for Answering Quizzes About the Company&#8217;s Games, CEO Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Significant&#8221; pay rises are on offer at Professor Layton developer Level-5 \u2014 if you can correctly answer questions about the company&#8217;s games.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">That&#8217;s according to Level-5&#8217;s own CEO, Akihiro Hino, who has revealed that &#8220;knowledge quizzes&#8221; based on the developer&#8217;s own games unlock bumper pay rises at the Japanese studio \u2014 but only if staff get the answers right.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Headquarted in Fukuoka, with satellite offices in Tokyo and Osaka, Level-5 is perhaps best known for creating the puzzle adventures of Professor Layton, but it&#8217;s also behind the Pok\u00e9mon-like RPG franchise Yo-kai Watch, anime soccer series Inazuma Eleven, and Studio Ghibli-esque role-player Ni No Kuni. So, if you know a lot about all of those, maybe take note&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Professor Layton and the New World of Steam Level 5 Vision Trailer Stills<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Speaking to Japanese outlet Famitsu (via Automaton), Hino revealed the actual amount that existing employees can add to their salary by demonstrating a strong knowledge of the company&#8217;s products \u2014 and while this has not been publicly revealed, it was said to have astonished reporters.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">While unusual, this gesture has a business purpose, Hino argued: that employees who are highly knowledgeable about the company can take on more work, or tutor others.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;If their knowledge is insufficient, we&#8217;ll need other team members to support them or review their work,&#8221; Hino explained. &#8220;On the other hand, if they do have that knowledge, they can take the lead and even streamline the workflow. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;In other words, I consider a person&#8217;s knowledge of and passion for the company&#8217;s games to be a genuine skill,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;When viewed as a company cost, it means we&#8217;re achieving efficiency gains that far exceed that amount.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-video\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Level-5&#8217;s next launch of major note is Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, which is set to arrive on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2 at some point later this year. Aptly titled for a game arriving on PC via Steam, this is the first adventure in the series to launch for PC and PlayStation, while other titles have stuck with Nintendo handhelds and smartphones.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In contrast, PlayStation recently announced it would drastically reduce the number of employees at Bungie, following the decision to cease development on Destiny 2. Microsoft, meanwhile, is expected to reveal a &#8220;bloodbath&#8221; of layoffs as soon as next Monday, as it offloads studios and refocuses its remaining development teams around a handful of core franchises.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Tom Phillips is IGN&#8217;s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky <\/em>@tomphillipseg.bsky.social<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/significant-pay-rises-offered-by-professor-layton-studio-if-you-correctly-answer-quizzes-about-the-companys-games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Significant&#8221; pay rises are on offer at Professor Layton developer Level-5 \u2014 if you can correctly answer questions about the company&#8217;s games. That&#8217;s according to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[25956,5668,16878,3697,321,20285,640,13693,25957,7509,4558],"class_list":["post-66101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-answering","tag-ceo","tag-companys","tag-developer","tag-games","tag-layton","tag-pay","tag-professor","tag-quizzes","tag-rises","tag-significant","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}