The authors of Life is Strange from Don't Nod asked the court to protect them from creditors

French Don't Nod, which made the first two parts of Life is Strange, Vampyr, Jusant and Lost Records, found itself in the most difficult situation in its history.The Commercial Court of Paris, at the request of the studio, opened a procedure for protection from creditors.At the same time, the company published a report for the first half of the year, and the figures in it explain why it came to this.

It's not bankruptcy yet

In France, this procedure is called sauvegarde.The company itself requests it while it is still able to work in order to gain time to find money.The court appointed a receiver and gave Don't Nod a six-month observation period.All debts that arose before the court decision of October 19 are frozen for the time being.The studio continues to work on projects.

The head of the company, Oscar Guilbert, called this a protective measure taken in advance.According to him, the industry is going through an extremely difficult period, investors have become extremely picky, and Don't Nod's current money is not enough to support all of its ongoing projects.

Aphelion didn't save

In the first six months of 2026, Don't Nod posted revenues of €6.1 million, down 14% year-on-year.The operating loss rose to 4.3 million euros versus 2 million a year earlier.The report explicitly states that sales of the sci-fi title Aphelion were below expectations.The main money came from the placement of Lost Records in PlayStation Plus and Game Pass, Aphelion in Game Pass and the old catalog.

Another 2.6 million euros came from development in Montreal: a local team is making a story-based game based on a major Netflix franchise, and this project is paid for by Netflix itself.But the internal project, codenamed P14, has not yet found funding, although, according to the studio, there is interest in it.

Money until the end of January

At the end of June, Don't Nod had 9.9 million euros left, compared to 15.5 million at the beginning of the year.The company acknowledges that its ability to operate beyond January 31, 2027 is dependent on external funding and calls this a material uncertainty.

Up to 85 cuts

Back on September 1, Don't Nod announced a new restructuring plan.The Paris studio will be reduced to a single production line, with up to 85 jobs in France affected.The Montreal team will not be affected.The reductions have been going on for several years now: on average, the group now employs 194 people compared to 279 a year earlier.

Don't Nod remains one of the few large independent studios in Europe that makes story-based games with their own worlds.The next six months will decide whether she can maintain this independence.