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Don't Nod Keeps Restructuring As It Cancels Two In-Development Titles, Puts Another Two On Hold

by Rainier on April 16, 2025 @ 10:34 a.m. PDT

French publisher/developer DON'T NOD issued its 2024 financial results in which its "performances fell short of expectations" and as a result is implementing a structural cost-saving plan.

In 2024, DON'T NOD's operating revenues decreased by 25% to €23.9 million compared to €32.1 million in 2023. This change reflects:

  • A 14% increase in sales to €3.2 million, mainly driven by the back catalog (Vampyr and the Life is Strange license) and the contribution of Jusant (released at the end of October 2023) and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (released mid-February 2024);
  • No development revenues due to the completion of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and no new co-production projects initiated during the period;
  • A €6.2 million decrease in capitalized production to €20.6 million, driven by a complete asset review. This includes the temporary suspension of two projects (P12 and P13) and the full withdrawal of project P10 and the P14 design phase (€6.0 million), which no longer meet capitalization criteria from fixed assets.

As announced, the 2024 financial statements reflect both the commercial underperformance of certain games and the accounting impact of decisions taken to deal with a highly competitive and selective market.

As part of these efforts, staff costs were down 5% to €24.8 million in 2024, and other operating expenses were down 9% to €9.6 million. These figures do not include the impact of the reorganization plan launched at the end of 2024, which is expected to reduce annual operating expenses by around €5 million from 2026. In addition, DON'T NOD notes that the streamlining of production lines number in France will avoid €5 million in external expenses from 2025.

Tax credits (French and Canadian) were down sharply, in line with the production development cycle (€2.4 million in 2024 vs. €6.7 million in 2023). As a result, operating EBITDA including tax credits (French and Canadian) came to an €8.5 million loss in 2024 (vs. operating EBITDA of €1.7 million in 2023).

As announced in the half-year results, depreciation, amortization and provisions include a non-cash €33.0 million impairment of fixed assets, broken down as follows:

  • a partial write-down of €25.3 million for Jusant and Banishers: Ghost of New Eden, as estimated future sales in a particularly saturated market are not expected to generate sufficient revenues to cover the full development costs capitalized for these two games;
  • a full write-down of €7.6 million in respect of the temporary suspension of Paris-based projects P12 and P13 to prioritize resources and maximize the chances of success for the most promising titles at present.

2025 is off to a strong start, with several high-quality releases with long-term sales potential:

  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, has received critical acclaim. The game has a Metacritic score of 80 and a Steam user score of 92%, further confirming DON'T NOD's expertise in the Narrative Adventure genre. Backed by a strategic partnership with Sony, the game's sales are in line with forecasts, in an increasingly selective market.
  • Koira , developed by Studio Tolima and published by DON'T NOD, was released ahead of schedule on April 1, 2025, for PlayStation 5 and PC. With a Metacritic score of 80, it confirms the studio's high production standards.

Lastly, The Lonesome Guild, developed by Tiny Bull Studios and announced at ID@Xbox IGN FanFest, is slated for release in late 2025.

DON'T NOD is also continuing the development of two internal Intellectual Property (P10 and P14), in line with its roadmap.

“Our 2024 results reflect performances that fell short of our expectations for recent productions, despite a very positive critical reception. They also include a non-cash accounting adjustment to the value of our portfolio. As part of our transformation and refocusing efforts, we also had to implement a structural cost-saving plan aimed at focusing our efforts on three production lines. This approach is in line with our commitment to secure the Group's resources and strengthen its ability to operate in an increasingly competitive and selective environment. We are actively pursuing our efforts to secure funding for our upcoming productions while also exploring opportunities related to high-profile licenses owned by major entertainment industry players. We remain firmly focused on the future and fully committed to executing our strategy to strengthen our competitiveness, improve our profitability and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders.” said DON'T NOD Chairman and CEO Oskar Guilbert.

In accordance with its transformation strategy, DON'T NOD is committed to securing its operational flows and consolidating its model around six key pillars:

  • Focusing efforts on the studio's three core genres of excellence – Action-RPG, Narrative Adventure and Action-Adventure – to maximize the chances of success of high-potential titles;
  • Strengthening the role of the editorial committee to better meet market expectations;
  • Restoring more organizational agility;
  • Aligning technologies to improve efficiency;
  • Securing financing for productions;
  • Seizing opportunities for partnerships on successful IPs not owned by the Group to diversify sources of revenue while limiting risks.
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