Don’t Nod Hit With Layoffs

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Don't Nod Hit With Layoffs

Key Takeaways

  • Don’t Nod is preparing to lay off almost 70 of its workers, amounting to 21% of the studio’s staff.
  • The decision was made after Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden failed to meet sales expectations.
  • The studio will release the narrative adventure game Lost Records: Bloom and Rage in two parts next year.

As a long-time fan and supporter of Don’t Nod, it’s disheartening to see such a talented studio facing these difficult times. The financial underperformance of their recent releases, especially “Jusant” and “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden,” has had a significant impact on the company, leading to a wave of layoffs that will affect nearly 70 employees.

The creative team behind the popular game “Life is Strange”, known as Don’t Nod, has recently announced a round of layoffs due to their recent titles, “Justant” and “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden”, not meeting financial expectations. Despite these challenges, Don’t Nod is still developing a new narrative adventure game in the style of “Life is Strange” called “Lost Records: Bloom and Rage”. This project is planned for release in two parts, tentatively scheduled for early 2025.

Just over a month ago, Don’t Nod announced that both “Jusant” and “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden” didn’t sell as well as expected by the company. Released last October, “Jusant,” an indie-style platforming adventure game, didn’t stand out much amidst a busy Fall season filled with numerous big releases. On the other hand, “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden,” launched in early 2024, drew more attention from gamers due to its triple-A style action-adventure experience. Although the game received positive reviews for its narrative and third-person combat mechanics, it underperformed financially, forcing the studio to redirect their resources and temporarily halt development on two unannounced projects.

Recently, IGN announced that video game studio Don’t Nod is planning to let go of nearly 70 employees, representing approximately 21% of their workforce. The studio attributes this decision primarily to the underperformance of their games “Jusant” and “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden,” which led to a 11% decrease in revenue compared to the same period last year. Don’t Nod CEO, Oskar Guilbert, stated, “The cost-cutting measures we announced earlier this year no longer seem sufficient to keep our company competitive. Consequently, today we presented a restructuring plan to the employee representative bodies, which could steer Don’t Nd in a new direction for future development.

Don’t Nod Is Planning To Lay Off Nearly 70 Employees

Previously this year, the French Video Game Workers Union, Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Video (STJV), expressed discontent towards studio Don’t Nod for inadequate communication, staff shortages, and other management issues within the company. Following recent layoff announcements, STJV has spoken out against Don’t Nod, claiming that these job cuts are illegal as studio leadership did not inform employees about them. Furthermore, STJV stated that workers have been requesting transparency on this matter for several months but have not received a response. In order to proceed with its layoff plans, Don’t Nod must engage in negotiations with STJV and other video game unions.

Originally proposed performance enhancements from last spring appear insufficient for maintaining our competitive edge. Consequently, we unveiled a restructuring plan to employee committees today, which might steer Don’d Nod towards a fresh development path.

Should Don’t Nod proceed with their decision to dismiss 21% of their workforce, around 70 positions will unfortunately be eliminated. This adds to the approximately 13,000 job losses that have occurred within the industry this year. However, it appears that despite these layoffs, Don’t Nod’s upcoming game titled “Lost Records: Bloom and Rage” is still on schedule for its Part 1 release on February 18, with Part 2 following a month later on March 18.

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2024-10-18 21:13