Life Is Strange and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden developer Don't Nod has released its financial summary for the first half of 2024, and it paints a pretty gloomy picture for the French studio.
In a press release summarizing the studio's year so far, Don't Nod says its revenue has declined 11% when compared to the same period last year, citing the performance of 2024 releases Jusant and the aforementioned Banishers, which the studio says "performed well below expectations".
Don't Nod says that an increase in sales over last year is "mainly driven by the back catalog", citing Vampyr and the license for Life Is Strange in particular, so just like Team17, Don't Nod isn't having much luck with newer releases.
The studio also says that its revenues won't cover its operating expenses, which means it expects to post a loss of around €1 million for the first half of the year.
In response to its disappointing financial performance, Don't Nod says it's focusing its efforts on the games "offering the highest potential return on investment in the short (and medium) term".
To wit, this involves seeking "discussions" with "industry leaders to secure economic benefits" for the upcoming Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, which will serve as the debut project for Don't Nod's Montreal studio.
One of Don't Nod's projects, codenamed P10, is being scrapped, while two projects currently in the design phase at the Paris studio are being "temporarily paus[ed]", although they're seemingly not being canceled altogether.
Don't Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert says he and his team are "obviously disappointed" by the studio's performance for the first half of the year, putting it down to "an extremely competitive and selective market".
He says Don't Nod is currently "consider[ing] all possible options regarding [its] roadmap", so presumably, nothing is off the table with regards to cancellations or delays. We'll have to wait and see what this means for the studio in both the short term and the long term.
