Japanese Company Lets Employees Take Day Off for Elden Ring Release

As the official release of Elden Ring looms just around the corner, some Japanese companies are taking drastic measures in preparation for From Software’s long-awaited title. One such company has formally declared February 25, 2022 — the game’s release date in Japan — a day off for all staff. For those who beat the game and become the Elden Lord, the company is also giving the proceeding Monday off as well.

Pocket Pair gives all employees a day off on the release day of Elden Ring

That company is Pocket Pair, a Japanese indie game developer most known for the games Craftopia and Palworld. Notably, Palworld caused quite a stir last year for its strange, almost unsettling trailer featuring Pokemon-esque creatures holding guns and being forced into factory labor (which can be viewed below). In a formal document to staff, Pocket Pair CEO Takruo Mizobe predicted that many employees would be “unable to focus on work” during the day, and announced that staff could take a paid holiday off.

Companies giving employees entire days off for the release of popular games are not entirely unheard of, at least in Japan. Last year’s release of Monster Hunter Rise for the Nintendo Switch saw another company giving employees paid time off for similar reasons. It’s also a well-documented fact that the Dragon Quest series is so popular in Japan that developer Square Enix decided to release its games on Saturdays, to prevent school kids from skipping school and adults from calling in sick to work.

While we likely won’t see the same happening at Western companies any time soon, it makes sense that a game studio would understand how difficult it is to focus on work when a new game is just waiting to be played at home. If you’re one of those people, you can also take a look at the Elden Ring global release timings to find out the exact moment you’ll be able to play.

In other news, Activision has delayed Call of Duty 2023 to the next year, breaking its traditional yearly release schedule. The day one launch of Shadow Warrior 3 on PlayStation Now has also sparked rumors of a reveal of Sony’s Project Spartacus.