Don’t Nod – the studio behind the likes of Jusant, Life is Strange 1 & 2, and the upcoming Lost Records: Bloom & Rage – has announced 69 jobs are at risk as it initiates a “reorganisation project to ensure the company’s long-term future” amid “deteriorating” financial results.
Signs the studio was facing difficulties emerged earlier this year when it announced it would be partially writing down €24m following the underperformance of Jusant and Banishers: Ghost of New Eden. It also confirmed it would be cancelling the development of one unannounced project, codenamed P10, while two additional Paris-developed projects (codenamed P12 and P13) had been temporarily put on hold in order to “prioritise resources and maximise the chances of success for the most promising titles at present.” Despite all this, it remained upbeat regarding the prospects of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, and noted it had two additional in-house projects in the works, both scheduled to release by the end of 2027.
But in its newly released 2024 half-year results update, Don’t Nod has acknowledged “strongly negative results despite [these] performance-enhancing measures”, and has announced a “reorganisation project to safeguard its competitiveness in an increasingly demanding and competitive ecosystem” that may affect up to 69 jobs. “An initial exchange took place today with the employee representative bodies,” it noted, “and an information-consultation process with these same bodies will subsequently be initiated regarding this project.”
In a statement accompany today’s news, Don’t Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert wrote, “Our half-year results for 2024 reflect the economic underperformance of our latest release, despite solid ratings on Metacritic, as well as the accounting impact of the decisions we had to take. The initial performance support measures announced last spring no longer seem sufficient to maintain the company’s competitiveness. As a result, today we presented a reorganisation project to the employee representative bodies, which could set Don’t Nod on a new development trajectory. I am fully conscious of the impact this project may have on all our employees. Securing our company’s resources and restoring its ability to perform more in an increasingly competitive and selective industry is extremely necessary.”
In addition to its in-house projects, Don’t Nod is providing support for two external publishing projects due for release in 2025, but Lost Records: Bloom & Rage will be the company’s next major own release when it launches for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S next year – the first part arriving on 18th February and its concluding half releasing a month later on 18th March.