Deep Unrest at Don’t Nod as French Studio Faces Insolvency Risk
- French studio Don’t Nod has entered safeguard proceedings amid restructuring efforts to avoid insolvency.
- Recent layoffs have affected various roles, complicating development of the game codenamed P14.
- Impacted employees report inadequate severance and an ongoing climate of uncertainty within the company.
Don’t Nod, the French studio renowned for titles such as Life is Strange and Aphelion, is currently grappling with significant unrest as it embarks on a restructuring journey to prevent insolvency. According to a report from Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo, the studio has initiated safeguard proceedings, a final effort aimed at financial recovery.
Despite ongoing layoffs, Don’t Nod plans to complete the game codenamed P14 but will increasingly rely on outsourced development to compensate for a reduced in-house workforce. The report suggests serious doubts regarding the studio’s capacity to finish the project, particularly after extensive layoffs that impacted nearly all character and environment artists, sound designers, and production staff.
“To compensate for this massacre and keep on running with production on a game that, to this day, didn’t cut down on its scope and is keeping around a hundred persons busy, management is betting it all on outsourcing,” the report states. It further explains that the remaining managers are expected to take on additional workloads from the departed employees.
Despite the scale of layoffs, the management reportedly cannot provide severance packages beyond the legal minimum and is not offering voluntary redundancy schemes. “It’ll be the strict legal minimum and you’ll be glad for it,” stated the report, underscoring the precarious situation for affected staff.
The internal environment has led to severe employee dissatisfaction, with ongoing discussions about workplace safety issues—six accidents in 2026 alone and an inquiry into imminent danger. Employees feel neglected as the management persists with a strategy that jeopardizes both their health and job security. “They do not care about the damage it deals to employees’ health,” the report added.
Negotiations with Don’t Nod’s employee representatives, the CSE, are expected to conclude on November 3rd. The current restructuring comes just a month after the company’s board opted to streamline operations, potentially leading to layoffs for as many as 90 individuals, following warnings about the company’s financial difficulties.
Don’t Nod’s latest release, Aphelion, failed to achieve significant commercial success since its launch in April, receiving mixed reviews. Conversely, the studio’s previous title, Life is Strange: Lost Records, released in 2025, garnered a four out of five stars rating, but this success was unable to stabilize the company’s financial woes.
News Courtesy of Eurogamer
