Don't Nod Announces Layoffs That Could Impact Up to 69 Workers
Don’t Nod’s ongoing struggles continue, with the company announcing it’s preparing to implement a reorganization that could result in layoffs of up to 69 employees.
The announcement comes with the company’s financial results for the first half of the year today, which showed an 11% year-over-year decline in operating revenue. Per the company, the decline is the result of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Jusant not performing as well as expected.
“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,” said CEO Oskar Guilbert in a statement. “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 reorganization 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.”
Our half-year results for 2024 reflect the economic underperformance of our latest release, despite solid ratings on Metacritic
The company has already taken some restructuring measures to reduce costs, including “pressing pause” on two unannounced projects. However, this seems to not be enough, as Don’t Nod is also expecting to lay off a number of individuals in the coming months. The exact number is still in flux, as Don’t Nod management must negotiate with employee union representatives and may implement other measures such as a voluntary redundancy plan. Notably, earlier this year, the representative French union Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) accused the company of mismanagement, claiming employees were facing burnout due to the ongoing reorganization and that communication, understaffing, and shifting deadlines were endangering the workforce.
Update 2:22pm PT: STJV has issued a statement condeming the layoffs, saying the company broke the law by not providing any information to employees beforehand about today’s meeting agenda where the layoffs were announced. The union also accused the company of ignoring workers asking for clearer communication about the state of the company, saying that “alarm bells have been ringing for months.”
“The Don’t Nod union section, as well the whole of the STJV, cannot tolerate the company rejecting the responsibilities of its own failures on its workers,” the statement reads. “We warned them long ago, but they ignored us and accused us of being too agressive to speak with. With this layoffs plan, they are creating an atmosphere of extreme violece. We are calling on all workers at Don’t Nod to mobilise to save their jobs and working conditions.”
Original story continues:
According to a games industry layoff tracker, over 13,000 game developers have been laid off just this year (including 32 just yesterday at Riot Games). Over 10,000 developers were laid off in 2023 and over 8,000 in 2022. We’ve previously reported on how the ongoing industry mass layoffs have impacted those affected by them.
Don’t Nod has said that Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is still on track for its February 18, 2025 release, and that two other projects in development are expected to release before the end of 2027.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
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