French Developer Don’t Nod Is Very Likely to Be Shut Down Soon

We've heard more than once that Don't Nod, the creators of Life is Strange and developers of games such as Vampyr, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, and Aphelion, may cease operations earlier next year. New details have been released by a French labor union, and they confirm that the studio is indeed in trouble.

According to STJV, Don't Nod is in a critical situation and has already announced the start of bankruptcy proceedings in the financial press before informing its employees. The website also adds that last year, employees were told of two possible scenarios: either funding for future games would be secured while the company sought financing, in which case they would be laid off, or the team would be dissolved if the search for funding failed. Currently, the second scenario seems more likely, and, as STJV adds, the layoffs will affect animators, artists, game designers, programmers, testers, HR specialists, and many other Don't Nod employees.

Don’t Nod, the studio behind the original Life is Strange, is collapsing.

The French developer is facing a near-total layoff, up to 85 jobs, which would leave its French teams with only a small number of employees.

The studio has struggled with a string of underperforming releases, the most recently the sci-fi adventure Aphelion.

Don’t Nod has warned that it may not have enough funding to continue operating beyond January 31, 2027, and has entered a French “safeguard” procedure to restructure its finances.

Don't Nod's recently released projects are believed to have failed to meet financial targets, and Tencent—the company that owns 42% of the studio—is refusing to invest in them. Not to mention the flop of Aphelion—the developers' new game released this spring, which received mixed reviews and failed to turn a profit. Last month, Don't Nod laid off 90 employees, and if the situation does not change, the studio may cease operations for good on January 31, 2027.

By the way, Steam is currently running a sale on some Don't Nod games —Aphelion (-40%), Vampyr (-90%), Banishers: Ghosts of the New Eden (-70%), Twin Mirror (-80%), and others. So, if you want to check out the studio's games, this is a great opportunity.