Don’t Nod, the French studio behind Life is Strange 1 & 2, Lost Records, Jusant, and more recently Aphelion, could soon run out of money. The developer and publisher revealed in a new financial report that its cash reserves may be depleted by November.
According to the disclosures, Don’t Nod’s co-owner, Tencent, is not interested in funding its next project, nor is it willing to increase its financial stake in the studio. Tencent acquired shares in Don’t Nod in the post-pandemic boom of 2021, and it currently holds a 42 percent stake in the business.
The startling auditors’ report was first picked up by journalist Gauthier ‘Gautoz’ Andres on BlueSky. French outlet Gamekult broke down the report, revealing that Don’t Nod had €8.8m in cash as of April.
Studio president, Oskar Guilbert, revealed that leadership has been working to find potential options, namely other publishers interested in funding the studio. Sadly, none of these discussions have resulted in any publisher commitments.
It’s not yet clear what this means for the studio, but it’s not unrealistic to assume cuts and layoffs could follow. To that end, the developer is seemingly scaling back plans for Project P14, its next game, which is currently in development. Gamekult notes that the project could be released earlier than initially planned with a reduced scope.
Don’t Nod’s board of directors will convene on 17th June to discuss potential solutions.
These are challenging times for many studios in the industry, but this is not the first time Don’t Nod has run into trouble. Earlier in 2025, Don’t Nod laid off an unspecified number of staff from its Montreal office. In 2024, the developer announced a redundancy plan following the underperformance of climbing game Jusant and role-playing game Banishers: Ghost of New Eden.
More broadly, major publishers have been pulling out of their commitments to fund independent studios. NetEase, another Chinese conglomerate, abandoned Yakuza series creator’s next game, Gang of Dragon, after the studio requested additional funding to finish the game.
In November last year, NetEase shut down Bad Brain Studios, a team made up of former Watch Dogs: Legion developers. Earlier this year, Tencent shuttered TiMi Montreal, a studio of former Ubisoft talent that’s chiefly been working on a triple-A open-world game, among other projects.
