Workers at Don't Nod to strike in reaction to studio's recent redundancy plan
Current project, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, is due for release early next year.
Workers at Don't Nod - the studio behind the likes of Jusant, Life is Strange 1 and 2, and upcoming release Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - are set to strike this Friday, 8th November.
The strike is in reaction to the studio's redundancy plan, which it announced in October.
As Matt reported last month, 69 jobs at the studio are at risk, as Don't Nod initiates a "reorganisation project to ensure the company's long-term future" amid "deteriorating" financial results.
In an open letter seen and translated by Eurogamer's sister-site GamesIndustry.biz, Don't Nod workers accused studio leadership of failing to take responsibility for its own shortcomings, instead using economical context as a justification for the redundancy plan.
"As workers at this company, we know that these failures are due to a succession of negligent acts and bad decisions from leadership," the letter reads. "We have warned leadership about these failures for years, but are not being listened to. Ultimately, we're the ones paying the price of these absurd decisions today, with the redundancy plan."
Workers accused leadership of "short-term thinking", adding "delusions of grandeur" influenced those higher up in the organisation to over-invest. "We want to save the company, but not at the price of unjustified redundancies or a deteriorated working environment," the letter closed.
Don't Nod's workers have laid out a number of demands, including:
- 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 negotiation
The strike is set to begin at 2pm on Friday, union STJV announced, next to Don't Nod's Paris headquarters.
In September, Don't Nod said it had high hopes for Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, after Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden failed to reach company expectations.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is set to arrive in two parts next year. The first instalment launches for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 18th February 2025. The second part will then debut a month later, on 18th March.