Life is Strange creator Don't Nod responds to concern about impending layoffs

What the report says

UPDATE 2ND SEPTEMBER 10AM BST: Don't Nod has expanded on the worrying situation it faces in a statement sent to Eurogamer this morning.Regarding layoffs, a spokesperson for the company said this "transformation project" may only "potentially" involve a redundancy process - a Plan de Sauvegarde de l'Emploi (PSE), as it's known in France, which is a mandatory process required when companies with at least 50 employees consider dismissing 10 employees or more. Whether or not this will happen will be confirmed in tomorrow's (Thursday's) meeting.The transformation measures are being done, the company said, to reflect "the realities of a market that has changed profoundly, and our company's current difficulties", but not, it stressed, as "a lack of confidence in the people who make up Don't Nod".

And as to its future capability for making games, it said these measures were being taken "precisely" to enable such a future - to "preserve the Group's competitiveness and ability to continue its activities".The full statement reads:"Regarding Don't Nod's future game development capacity, the objective of the transformation project is precisely to adapt our operating model to the current market environment and preserve the Group's competitiveness and ability to continue its activities."As announced, we will communicate the main elements and next steps of the transformation project to the market, after the Board meeting and the first meeting with employee representatives which will take place this week."As stated in our September 1 press release, Don't Nod has initiated a transformation project in response to the significant changes in the economic and financing environment of the video game industry, together with the deterioration of the Group's key economic indicators."The project may potentially involve a Plan de Sauvegarde de l'Emploi (PSE), which is why we have convened our employee representative bodies and opened discussions with the representative trade union.

At this stage, the information and consultation process has started, but our first meeting will be on Thursday. We will comment on the potential impact on employment or provide further details on the proposed organisation after this first meeting."We recognise the difficulty of this moment for our teams, and we do not take this lightly. It reflects the realities of a market that has changed profoundly, and our company's current difficulties, not a lack of confidence in the people who make up Don't Nod. We are particularly mindful of the potential impact of this transformation project on our employees.

Key details

Ensuring appropriate support and accompanying measures for [employees] will be a key priority throughout the consultation and negotiation process."Regarding Don't Nod's future game development capacity, the objective of the transformation project is precisely to adapt our operating model to the current market environment and preserve the Studio's competitiveness and ability to continue its activities."As announced, we will communicate the main elements and next steps of the transformation project to the market, after the Board meeting and the first meetings with employee representatives which will take place this week."ORIGINAL STORY 1ST SEPTEMBER: French game developer and publisher Don't Nod - creator of the Life is Strange series and games like Remember Me, Vampyr, Banishers, Jusant and most recently Aphelion - seems as though it's about to enter another round of layoffs.In a company press release (via Resetera and translated by DeepL), Don't Nod announced it's "embarking on a transformation initiative" to deal with "profound changes in the economic conditions of the video game industry".

Layoffs aren't specifically mentioned, but when referring to a meeting scheduled for Thursday 3rd September, Don't Nod mentioned "a job-preservation plan" and "negotiations with the trade union representing employees", which sounds ominous.The full announcement reads:"Independent video game publisher and development studio, announces that it is embarking on a transformation programme."Against a backdrop of profound changes in the economic conditions of the video game industry and its funding, coupled with a deterioration in the Group's key economic indicators, the Company considers it necessary to adapt its operating model."In this context, the Management has convened the Company’s Employee Representative Bodies for a meeting scheduled for Thursday 3 September 2026.

This is the first meeting under the information and consultation procedure with the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) prior to the possible implementation of a job-preservation plan.