Don’t Nod continues to struggle, and the company announces that it is preparing for a reorganization that could result in the layoffs of up to 69 employees.
The announcement is accompanied by today’s financial results for the first half of the year, which showed an 11% year-on-year decline in operating revenues. According to the company, the decline is due to the worse results of the games Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Juant.
“Our 2024 half-year results reflect the weak economic performance of our latest release, despite solid ratings on Metacritic, as well as the accounting impact of the decisions we have had to make,” CEO Oskar Guilbert said in a statement. “The initial performance support measures announced last spring no longer appear to be sufficient to maintain the company’s competitiveness. As a result, today we presented to employee representative bodies a reorganization project that could put Don’t Nod on a new development trajectory. fully aware of the impact this project may have on all our employees. Safeguarding our company’s resources and restoring its ability to perform better in an increasingly competitive and selective industry is critical.
The company has already undertaken some restructuring actions to reduce costs, including an “abrupt pause” in two unannounced projects. However, it seems that this will not be enough, as Don’t Nod also expects to lay off a number of people in the coming months. The exact number is still changing because Don’t Nod management must negotiate with workers’ union representatives and may implement other measures, such as a voluntary redundancy plan. It is worth noting that earlier this year the representative French union Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) accused the company mismanagement, claiming that employees are at risk of burnout due to the ongoing reorganization and that communication, staff shortages and deadline postponements put employees at risk.
Updated at 2:22 p.m. PT: STJV issued a statement condemning the layoffs, saying the company broke the law by failing to provide employees with any information about the agenda for today’s meeting at which the layoffs were announced. The union also accused the company of ignoring workers’ demands for clearer information about the company’s condition, saying “alarm bells have been ringing for months.”
“The Don’t Nod trade union section, like the entire STJV, cannot tolerate when a company deflects responsibility for its own failures to its employees” – the statement reads. “We warned them a long time ago, but they ignored us and accused us of being too aggressive to talk to us. With this layoff plan, they are creating an atmosphere of extreme violence. We call on all Don’t Nod employees to mobilize to save their jobs and working conditions.”
Original story continues:
According to A gaming industry layoff trackerthis year alone, over 13,000 game developers have been laid off (including 32 just yesterday at Riot Games). More than 10,000 developers were laid off in 2023, and more than 8,000 in 2022. We’ve previously reported on how ongoing mass layoffs in the industry have impacted those affected.
Don’t Nod said that Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is still on track for a February 18, 2025 release, and that two other projects in development are scheduled for release before the end of 2027.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
