French game developer Don't Nod, known for titles such as Life is Strange, Remember Me, Vampyr, and Banishers: New Eden, is reportedly in a critical financial situation, having entered safeguard proceedings to stave off insolvency. Employees have described a period of intense unrest, with one account stating that staff have been "living on the edge" for two years.
A report from French union Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo details significant redundancies across multiple departments. Almost all character artists, concept artists, most environment artists, sound designers, game designers, level designers, programmers, producers, testers, and dev-ops personnel have reportedly been let go. The studio intends to continue development on an in-development game codenamed P14, but will rely heavily on outsourced work to compensate for the reduced in-house team. The union report expresses doubt about the feasibility of completing the project under these conditions.
"Managers, who are usually seen as more competent and experienced than non-managers, are kept within the organisation and studio management expects them to orchestrate the massive shift to outsourcing as well as take over the workload of the fired team members," the report claims. "Anyone with a little experience with video games production and sanity understands how out-of-touch such a plan is."
The report also indicates that affected staff are not being offered severance packages or redundancy plans beyond the legally mandated minimum. A voluntary redundancy scheme is reportedly not being offered either.
According to the union, the company has been "driven into a wall for years," with management accused of ignoring external advice and failing to conduct reality-based assessments. Employees reportedly feel like "hostages to a radicalised management" whose actions disregard the consequences for the livelihood and future of the 140 remaining staff members. The union has documented six workplace accidents in 2026 and recently initiated an inquiry into a serious and imminent danger, citing a lack of risk prevention planning.
This situation follows a board decision last month to enter a restructuring period that could have resulted in up to 90 layoffs. That move came just months after Don't Nod stated it was nearing depletion of its funds. The company's most recent release, Aphelion, which launched in April, reportedly struggled to find an audience and received middling reviews. While the Life is Strange follow-up Lost Records received a more favorable reception, its success was not enough to stabilize the studio's financial standing. Negotiations with the employee representatives are scheduled to conclude on November 3rd.