An October 27 statement from employees of Don't Nod, the developer best known for making the original Life is Strange games, warn that the company is in danger of insolvency and layoffs, and accused its management of "illegal" practices that have caused staff "uncertainty and anxiety."
The damning statement comes from employees who are members of the French game industry union Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo, which revealed that Don’t Nod is currently under a safeguard to help protect itself from insolvency (meaning that the company wouldn’t be able to pay its debts).
The statement claims employees were approached by management and given “several financial scenarios” that could happen in the near future, both of which “included redundancies," with the worst case forecasting the “liquidation of the company through 2026.”
The message states that “nearly all of the non-managerial jobs” were cut at Don’t Nod, which reportedly included all animators, character artists, concept artists, associate producers, and most environmental artists, sound designers, level designers, programmers, QA testers, HR and developers. Half of its game designers were also laid off, according to the statement.
“Management is extremely clearly going for heavily individualized targeting and hasn’t been shy about their intent to keep selected people in rather than jobs, which is illegal,” the union wrote.
The statement goes on to claim that management is betting on outsourcing to take on the workload of these fired team members — a decision that the union feels is “out-of-touch.”
The letter then says Don't Nod employees have been “living on the edge, in uncertainty and anxiety” for the last two years, to the point where six workplace accidents occurred this year and an inquiry was recently launched into a “serious and immediate danger.” It also alleges that management “refused to let those who would be willing to leave earlier go through a voluntary leave plan,” saying they “do not care about the damage it deals to employees’ health.”
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