Jusant in particular, but also Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, were met with consistently good ratings. But… quality does not always equal good sales, and Don’t Nod testified to that on Monday night when they released their financial report for the first half of 2024.
The report states that both games underperformed, which means that the company is now writing down the value of them and also lowering expectations for the future. Don’t Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert explains:
“We are obviously disappointed by our recent performance in an extremely competitive and selective market. Despite an excellent critical reception, Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of new Eden unfortunately did not achieve the commercial results we had hoped for, resulting in a deterioration in our 2024 half-year results and leading us to consider all possible options regarding our roadmap.”
To compensate for this, Don’t Nod will now focus on the projects that are deemed to have the greatest potential to sell well in order to maximise their development. They specifically mention the upcoming mystery Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, but also two other in-house titles to be launched before 2027 and two externally developed games that are due to premiere in 2025.
However, two games being developed at their main studio in Paris are paused, which are only in the design phase so far. This, according to Don’t Nod, “will enable us to prioritize resources and maximize the chances of success of the titles with the greatest potential at present.”
It’s sad, of course, but we still want to give a shout out to Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of new Eden, both of which are great games that we absolutely think you should give a shot (Jusant is even included with Game Pass).