Don't Nod has opened safeguard proceedings in France, a court-supervised process that suspends creditor enforcement while a company restructures its debt. Up to 85 of its staff are at risk under the restructuring plan the studio is pursuing.
The developer of the first two Life Is Strange games, Jusant, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and Aphelion said a month ago that it might not have enough cash to get through January 2027, and that up to 90 people were at risk of being let go. The filing is intended to buy it time while it works on its finances.
The videogame industry continues to face an exceptionally challenging environment, marked in particular by highly selective access to financing. In this context, our current cash position does not allow us to adequately secure all the financing requirements associated with our operations and projects.
Guilbert described the proceedings as a proactive protection measure intended to provide the framework and time to build a sustainable solution, while the studio continues operating and preserves the value of its assets, projects and expertise.
What safeguard proceedings do
PC Gamer likens the process to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. Citing the Switzerland-based corporate finance advisory firm Hectelion, it describes safeguard as a preventive French insolvency procedure open to companies that are not yet in payment default but face difficulties they cannot overcome alone. The debtor initiates it, and it opens an observation period of six to 18 months during which creditor enforcement is suspended. In that window a plan to reduce and reschedule the debt over a period of up to 10 years is worked out with creditors and ultimately approved by a court.
Don't Nod's difficulties date to 2024, when Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden both sold well below expectations despite being well received by players and critics. Work on two new games was put on hold and layoffs followed in 2025. The studio says it has achieved significant milestones in its restructuring plan, which includes refocusing its French operations around a single production line — the change that puts up to 85 jobs at risk.
In the same financial update, Don't Nod said sales of Aphelion, its most recent release and a third-person sci-fi action game, came in below the group's expectations and weighed on the half-year's performance.
