Don’t Nod presented its half-year results yesterday and it is evident all is not well with the publisher. The company admitted the market is “extremely competitive and concentrated”. The company’s operating EBITDA took a hit after a partial write-down of €24.0 million for Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.
“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 Don’t Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert.
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“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.”
In the first six months, Don’t Nod’s operating revenues declined by 11%, compared to the same time last year. Therefore, the company has been looking for ways to cut costs including temporarily halting two unannounced projects in Paris.
The decline of Don’t Nod’s revenue has forced the company to launch a new reorganization project to secure the company’s long-term future. In the last section of the half-year financial report, Don’t Nod disclosed its plans to make roles redundant to “safeguard its competitiveness”.
“This project could impact DON’T NOD’s workforce in France and may affect up to 69 jobs,” the company said. “An initial exchange took place today with the employee representative bodies, and an information-consultation process with these same bodies will subsequently be initiated regarding this project.”
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Don’t Nod is in dialogue with employee representatives and hopes to reach an agreement. Part of the agreement that the company is keeping on the table is “the possibility of a voluntary redundancy plan”. The reorganization plan will not affect the development of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage which is scheduled for release in 2025.
STJV calls on Don’t Nod employees to strike
The Video Game Workers Union (STJV) was not satisfied with the reorganization plan presented by Don’t Nod’s management, especially the part that involved making 69 workers (or 29% of the Paris studio’s workforce) redundant. The union called it “the culmination of a series of catastrophic decisions long denounced by staff representation bodies”.
“Don’t Nod’s staff representatives have been warning about the company’s economic situation for over a year, the reason given to justify this social plan,” the union criticized the company’s management for ignoring the warning signs.
“The warning lights have been red for several months: the closure of the Jusant production line and the dispersion of its team on other projects, the “pausing” of other unannounced projects, the departure of more and more employees each month (including in management positions), the commercial failures of the latest projects…
“Management hides behind ‘the economic situation’ and ‘the very competitive market’ to excuse its failures, without ever questioning its inconsistent decisions, which are harmful to the studio and the workers.”
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The Don’t Nod union and the STJV said that they cannot allow their members to take responsibility for the company’s failures—especially because they had warned in advance but their pleas were ignored.
Consequently, the union is calling on all Don’t Nod workers “to mobilize now to safeguard their jobs and working conditions”. They added that “there is no question of paying for the mistakes of our bosses”.
Don’t Nod is an independent video game developer and publisher founded in 2008. The company has its headquarters in Paris with another office in Montreal.
