French video game developer Don’t Nod announced on Friday, September 4, 2026, that it plans to cut up to 90 jobs in France amid severe financial headwinds and a competitive market, according to a company statement cited by the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Financial Pressure and the Threat of Insolvency
Don’t Nod reported a drop in turnover, bringing in 6,1 millions d’euros for the first half of 2026, according to company financial disclosures. The studio’s cash reserves dwindled to 8 million euros at the end of July, down sharply from 15.4 millions d’euros at the close of 2025. In the company statement, the developer warned that the continuation of its operations depends heavily on securing external financing, creating what it termed a “significant uncertainty on going concern beyond January 31, 2027.” Company auditors had already issued warnings in May regarding the anticipated exhaustion of company finances by November. Meanwhile, primary shareholder Tencent, a Chinese multinational, has declined to inject additional funds into the studio.
Restructuring and Production Retrenchment
To cope with the financial squeeze, the Paris-based studio plans to recenter operations around a single production line in Paris, a pivot that forces the workforce reduction of up to 90 posts. This restructuring follows a previous job-cutting plan implemented in late 2024 and early 2025 that eliminated roughly 60 positions out of 250 at the Parisian office and sparked employee strikes. “The measures envisaged today are difficult, we measure fully what they can represent for the collaborators concerned and we ensure to put in place necessary support measures,” said Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Oskar Guilbert in the company statement cited by AFP.
Studio Track Record and Recent Releases
Founded in Paris in 2008, Don’t Nod built its reputation on narrative-driven titles. After releasing Remember Me in 2013, the studio achieved breakthrough success with 2015’s Life is Strange and its 2019 sequel, both developed for Japanese publisher Square Enix. The company subsequently developed Vampyr in 2018 for Focus, self-published the critically praised Jusant in 2023, and released spiritual successors including Tell Me Why in 2020 and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage in 2025. However, its late-April release Aphelion, an adventure game set on a planet at the edge of the solar system, received mixed reviews, earning a 64 out of 100 average score on review aggregator Metacritic.
Broader French Gaming Industry Downturn
Don’t Nod is not alone in struggling against current market conditions. Other prominent French video game companies are also scaling back operations. Quantic Dream, known for Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, announced plans to cut 115 jobs from its roughly 400-employee workforce across Paris and Montreal, according to reports by AFP. Ubisoft is continuing an extensive restructuring that involves foreign studio closures—including facilities in Winnipeg, Canada, and Belgrade, Serbia—and the elimination of numerous jobs since September 2022. Several other regional studios have closed their doors entirely following the receivership of publisher Nacon.
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