Last month, Parisian developer/publisher Don't Nod announced it would cancel multiple projects, reorganise the company, and eliminate a strangely specific 69 positions in the process. Our favourite French union, Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV), fresh off of causing headaches for Ubisoft, has a strike planned in front of Don't Nod HQ for tomorrow, Friday, 8th November.
If you are in the area, STJV says the picket will be next to the studio's head office, and festivities kick off at 2 PM; keep an eye out for a crowd of disgruntled video game developers (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz). The staff have a list of demands:
- That Don't Nod abandons the redundancy plan
- That employees have a voice in decision-making at the company
- That Don't Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert be present at the negotiations
In an open letter translated by GamesIndustry, Don't Nod staff wrote: "As workers at this company, we know that these failures are due to a succession of negligent acts and bad decisions from leadership. We have warned leadership about these failures for years but are not being listened to. Ultimately, we're paying the price of these absurd decisions today with the redundancy plan."
We'll be watching the situation with close interest. Do you think the workers will get the changes they want? With only Lost Records: Bloom & Rage currently announced, what do you think the future holds for the firm? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 17
69? Really way too specific. This has got to be some kind of joke, right? That said, I’ve never heard of “Don’t Nod”. Seems like there’s barely any good news with game companies these days outside Nintendo stuff…
@LavenderShroud Dontnod = Life is Strange, Remember Me, Tell Me Why, Vampyr, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
I hope Don’t Nod keeps going. I absolutely love the games they make. I’m playing Banishers right now (and really liking it and smacking myself for taking so long to get to it, despite preordering the game), in fact, and can’t wait to preorder Lost Records, having finished Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Remember Me is a hidden gem as is Vampyr, and Jusant was one of the best games to ever launch on Gamepass. This is a team that makes great games and they deserve to continue to do so.
theyve made good games but they dont sell well so therefore are in financial problems hence the redundancies.
also why is there a picture of life is strange double expose in the article they didnt make that game Deck 9 did they lost the IP to square enix
I hope the workers are able to meet their goals. Don't Nod is a, relatively speaking, small team, so I am more prone to believe they would be in crisis after mismanagement than, say, big companies like Microsoft. Still this industry lays off people like I throw away used napkins, that has to change.
Last thing: the cover image is from the latest Life is Strange game, which I'm pretty sure was not made by Don't Nod. I believe the IP now belongs to Square Enix. You should consider changing it, I think. Might cause confusion.
@trev666 Didn't see your comment before posting mine, now it feels redundant haha
@kevinm360 Ohhh. I forgot about that. I’ve been wanting to play Remember Me. I actually forgot who even made it.
Don’tNod make incredible games that are marketed poorly, it’s a very talented team, I feel, piloted by a management who doesn’t always know what they’re doing.
I hope the weekly French protest is successful, losing 69 from 320 employees would be significant.
There seems to be a lot of discontent among French company workers at the moment. What’s going on out there?
@somnambulance just finished Banishers after getting it on Sale. Brilliant game
@somnambulance now I know Jusant is made by them I feel like I should buy it in the current sale!
Played the first Life is Strange and remember enjoying it, but I haven't managed to find the energy to play another one. I guess it didn't grab me as much as I initially remember.
Remember Me is a great game people should try it they haven't already.
Edit; good luck to the team with their demands!
Edit edit; just checked out a list of their games on PSN Profiles.. Harmony also looks like another great game from them. I love their art style
It's weird you picked a Double Exposure header image since they aren't involved in that game
Hmmm, a bunch of workers who are to be redundant go on strike to try to prevent the redundancies??!!
I've got a feeling that plan isn't going to work out!
@TrannosaurusBex @SuperSilverback I’m quite enjoying Banishers. I beat The Beast last night. It’s a strange game, in that, being AA, I have no idea how deep I am into the game. Feels like I should be farther than a first boss, but also feels like I’m still at the surface. But it’s also sort of a game you soak in rather than rush through. I’m quite enjoying it. I do suspect it will be in my top 5 at year’s end. That said, I can’t believe the Golden Joysticks snubbed Red and Antea for best actor in a game! Easily some of the best voice acting in the industry. Easily. Best I’ve seen this year for sure.
For LiS, Don’t Nod only did the first one and LiS2. Square owns the IP and they’ve got the studio Deck Nine making the games now. There’s subtle differences between the studios’ approach to the series, but the series is still well made. It’s a series that you’re better off NOT looking at reviews because all of them have reviewed in the 70s at launch by mostly reviewers that usually aren’t fans of the series, as most people only played the first one, except True Colors, which hit the low 80s at launch. It’s a great series for those that love it. It’s my wife’s favorite game series, for sure, and it’s one of mine. Her favorite is LiS2 and mine is True Colors. The only one we thought was iffy was Before the Storm, which honestly feels like fanbait DLC. We just finished Double Exposure last week and agreed it was better than reviews gave it credit for, but also not the best in the series. I would recommend downloading Captain Spirit and giving that a shot. It’s like a demo for the second game, but it’s with a character that isn’t the main character from the game. It’s a really well crafted little freebie. Many other studios would have made something like that and it would have been DLC.
Also, I highly recommend Jusant. It’s just so incredibly unique. If you like the mountain scaling in BotW, for instance, you’ll like this. It’s a short game, but it’s so well done it doesn’t matter. It’s honestly one of those games that has replay value because it’s fun to play and so unique. Well, for me, anyway!
@somnambulance Red and Antea only get better as the game goes on. Combat can be a bit repetitive, and back tracking can be annoying, apart from that it's a soild 8/10 for me. Think I put close to 40 hours into it
@SuperSilverback Yeah, I think the story, characters, and just all around world of the game have been 9/10 tier, but traversal and combat are sort of… basically signs of this being a AA release with a lower budget and definitely more or less 6/10 or 7/10 tier, so I think I agree with you that it’s an 8/10, but an 8/10 that I’m biased toward. As of right now, I’ve got it at #5 on my top 10 list for the year, right between Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Life is Strange: Double Exposure. I sort of feel like it’s staying there for now, but if I end up liking the story more, I may put it above PoP, even if I’d say that one’s a 9/10. I like it more than most games that got nominated for GotY for Golden Joysticks for sure. It’s sort of the type of game I feel like is missing in the industry these days. Sure, it’s got some issues, but, man, it’s got some really interesting things going on that feel really fresh.
I had preordered it, based on me loving the studio’s games, but just never started it, and now I’m questioning why I didn’t play it already. After Silent Hill 2, which was more stressful than fun for me, Banishers honestly feels like exactly the type of game I’ve been wanting to play all year.
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