Don't Nod
Don't Nod Entertainment SA (formerly traded as Dontnod Entertainment) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in June 2008, it started development on Remember Me (2013). Because of its poor return on investment, Don't Nod entered "judicial reorganisation" in 2013. With the help of French agency funding, it developed Life Is Strange (episodically in 2015), whose successful release raised Don't Nod's industry status. It began third-party publishing with Gerda: A Flame in Winter in 2022.
| |
| Company type | Public |
| Euronext: ALDNE | |
| ISIN | FR0013331212 |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1 May 2008 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , France |
Number of locations | 2 studios (2022) |
Key people | |
| Revenue | €13.95 million[1] (2019) |
| €-0.09 million[1] (2019) | |
| Owner | |
Number of employees | 320 (2022[3]) |
| Website | dont-nod.com |
History edit
Dontnod Entertainment was founded by Hervé Bonin, Aleksi Briclot, Alain Damasio, Oskar Guilbert and Jean-Maxime Moris on 1 May 2008,[4] alongside other former Criterion Games, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts staff.[5][6] "Dontnod" is a palindrome devised by co-founder Alain Damasio.[7] Originally based in Quartier des Quinze-Vingts in the 12th arrondissement, the studio moved into a new office in Quartier de la Villette in the 19th arrondissement to accommodate the company's growth in late 2008.[8][9] The studio used Unreal Engine 3 for their first game, working with Epic Games' engineering team which leading to Epic extending Dontnod's UE3 evaluation and has since used the engine for all of its games.[10][11][12]
The developer's debut title was Remember Me,[13] which would at first be a PlayStation 3-exclusive role-playing game, but was dropped by publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2011 on account of cuts in funding. It was presented at Gamescom the same year to attract another publishing deal; the following year, Capcom Europe acquired the rights and reimagined it as an action-adventure game,[8][14][15] released in June 2013.[13][14] In 2013, Dontnod was the most subsidised studio with 600 000€ aid by the French agency Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC).[16] Including aid for a new intellectual property (IP) project codenamed "What if?" (later Life is Strange) for 200 000€.[17] On 28 January 2014, Dontnod filed for redressement judiciaire ("judicial reorganisation"), a form of receivership in France; the proceeding was finalised in February 2018.[18][19] The proceeding filing was discovered by Factornews and some media outlets like Polygon reported it as Dontnod filing for bankruptcy as a result of the poor sales of Remember Me.[20] Dontnod responded to these reports explaining that they were in the process of "judicial reorganisation" to resize the company and denying bankruptcy.[21][22][23] In June 2014, Dontnod announced that they were working with Square Enix Europe on a new game,[24] which was announced as Life Is Strange that year and released in 2015 over the course of five instalments.[25] The critical and commercial success of Life Is Strange caused Dontnod to be solicited by publishers, whereas they previously had to pursue publishers themselves.[26]
Guilbert said in April 2016 that the studio had cast off the ambition of making triple A games and would only see themselves devoted to independent projects,[13][27] in particular, original, narrative-driven intellectual properties, which narrative director Stéphane Beauverger agreed was "part of Dontnod's DNA".[8][28] The company's guiding principle is to reinvent itself with every game.[8] For the sake of maintaining the motivation of players and publishers, the production cycle since releasing the five-year commitment Remember Me was reduced to two and a half or three years.[29] "Dontnod Days" are maintained for unsupervised work related to ongoing projects.[8]
Dontnod announced in July 2016 that it had entered into a partnership with Hesaw, a Parisian game studio in which Guilbert also held a management role, that saw the latter renamed Dontnod Eleven but remained an independent entity.[30][29] In April 2018, Dontnod registered with the French stock market regulator Autorité des marchés financiers to become a public company. This came after a turnover of €9.7 million in 2017, a 33-per cent increase from the previous year.[31] The subscription period opened on 3 May 2018, with the first day of trading on 23 May. Listed on Euronext PME (Euronext Growth), Dontnod raised the intended €20.1 million. 25 per cent of the funds were spent on finding another studio to partner with; according to Guilbert, the rest would allow further project investment as well as improvement and optimisation of production pipelines, with an internal motion capture studio cited among possibilities.[19][32] Despite Dontnod's public listing, Guilbert, together with investor Kostadin Yanev, intended to keep control over the company.[19] Around this time, the company employed 166 staff members.[19] The studio subsequently acquired Dontnod Eleven and absorbed its operations in June 2018.[33] Dontnod released Vampyr with Focus Home Interactive,[34][35] an action role-playing game, in June 2018.[36] 70% of the studio's 120 employees (in 2016) were devoted to the development of Vampyr, many of whom had worked on Life Is Strange.[37] The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, set within the Life Is Strange universe, released in June 2018.[38] Dontnod started developing Life Is Strange 2 in early 2016, after its predecessor proved financially successful,[39][40][41] release episodically between September 2018 and December 2019.[42]
In 2018, Guilbert said the company would pursue a co-production strategy with future publishers, as was done for Vampyr, limiting their part to forty per cent.[19] Each project begins with a designer, writer, and art director, with the occasional producer or engineer.[32]
Dontnod worked with Xbox Game Studios on Tell Me Why, a 2020 episodic adventure game.[43] Also in 2020, Dontnod published its first self-owned IP, Twin Mirror co-developed with Shibuya Productions, which was originally published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.[44][45] A subsidiary studio in Montreal, Canada, was announced in May 2020, adding to its more than 250 employees in France.[46][47] In January 2021, Dontnod announced that Tencent had acquired a minority stake in the company for €30 million, granting the option to appoint a member to their board. The investment will allow Dontnod to continue self-publishing their titles and expand into China and the mobile game sector.[48] Dontnod stated in April 2021 they plan to expand their self-publishing capabilities to third-party publishing as well, with the first planned title from Copenhagen-based studio PortaPlay.[49] In September 2021, Dontnod made their remote work policy (Fully Remote Organization scheme) permanent for all employees.[50]
On 31 May 2022, the company changed its name to Don't Nod.[51] Its third-party publishing side released its first game, Gerda: A Flame in Winter in September 2022.[52] Harmony: The Fall of Reverie was released in June 2023. As a part of the Xbox Games Showcase held on 11 June 2023, Don't Nod announced an action puzzle game Jusant to be released in late 2023.[53] At the 2023's The Game Awards, Don't Nod revealed the narrative adventure video game, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. It is being developed by Don't Nod Montréal, with members of the original team that made the first Life is Strange game. The game is meant to kickstart its own universe, with Bloom & Rage as its first title and is slated for a late 2024 release for the PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S.[54][55]
Games developed edit
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Remember Me | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 | Capcom |
| 2015 | Life Is Strange | Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Square Enix |
| 2018 | Vampyr | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | Focus Home Interactive |
| The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | Square Enix | |
| 2018–2019 | Life Is Strange 2 | Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | |
| 2020 | Tell Me Why | Windows, Xbox One | Xbox Game Studios |
| Twin Mirror | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | Dontnod Entertainment | |
| 2023 | Harmony: The Fall of Reverie | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | Don't Nod |
| Jusant | PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | ||
| 2024 | Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden | PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | Focus Entertainment |
| Lost Records: Bloom & Rage | PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | Don't Nod |
Games published edit
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Developer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Gerda: A Flame in Winter | Nintendo Switch, Windows | PortaPlay |
| 2025 | Koira | Windows | Studio Tolima |
References edit
- ^ a b "Euronext company information". Euronext. from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- ^ "Successful completion of approximately EUR 46 million capital increase". Actusnews Wire (in French). 17 February 2023. from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ^ "Don't NOD unveils a new visual identity - Studios". 31 May 2022. from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- ^ "Discover Our Story". Dontnod Entertainment. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018.
- ^ Cook, Dave (14 August 2012). "Remember Me: Capcom announces new IP from Dontnod Entertainment". VG247. Videogaming247 Ltd. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014.
- ^ IGN Staff (11 July 2011). "Dontnod Entertainment Outlines its First Video Game on Console". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014.
- ^ "The Awesome Adventures Of Captain Spirit preview and interview – Life is Strange too". Metro. 19 June 2018. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Barnes, Ben (June 2016). "Dontnod Entertainment". Edge. No. 293. Future Publishing. pp. 94–97.
- ^ Cario, Erwan (5 February 2015). "DontNod, de la suite dans le gameplay" (in French). Libération. from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ Gaudiosi, John (30 July 2013). "Dontnod Entertainment Brings Neo-Paris to Life with Unreal Engine 3". Unreal Engine. Epic Games. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017.
- ^ Hamilton, Kirk (4 February 2015). "What Telltale Could Learn From Life is Strange". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (2 December 2015). "This New World War 1 Vampire Game Explores a "Dark and Brutal" World". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. from the original on 3 December 2015.
- ^ a b c Farokhmanesh, Megan (25 April 2016). "From Life is Strange to Vampyr: Dontnod's dark turn". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016.
- ^ a b Martin, Matt (14 August 2012). "Capcom grabs IP rights to new title Remember Me". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. from the original on 16 August 2012.
- ^ Remember Me Game (24 October 2013). "Rewind – Forward The Making of Remember Me". YouTube. from the original on 19 December 2018.
- ^ Audureau, William (11 February 2014). "DONTNOD, le plus subventionné en 2013". Gamekult (in French). Archived from the original on 2 January 2019.
- ^ Cusseau, Thomas (4 October 2013). "Le prochain DONTNOD (Remember Me) nommé ? [MàJ]". Gamekult (in French). Archived from the original on 29 March 2016.
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- ^ a b c d e Debes, Florian (3 May 2018). "Le studio français de jeu vidéo Dontnod compte lever 20 millions d'euros en Bourse". Les Echos (in French). Archived from the original on 4 May 2018.
- ^ Futter, Mike (31 January 2014). "[Update] Remember Me Developer Denies Bankruptcy". GameInformer. from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
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- ^ Conditt, Jessica (14 August 2014). "Life is Strange: Ambiguous young love among leading ladies". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014 – via Joystiq.
- ^ Dring, Christopher (19 August 2016). "'Publishers are now calling us' – How Life is Strange has transformed Dontnod". MCV. NewBay Media. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016.
- ^ Audureau, William (13 June 2016). "Oskar Guilbert, le miraculé du jeu vidéo français" (in French). Le Monde. from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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- ^ Chalk, Andy (13 June 2019). "Dontnod's Twin Mirror delayed, will launch next year as an Epic Store exclusive". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 15 June 2019.
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- ^ Kerr, Chris (8 April 2021). "Life is Strange dev Dontnod is branching into third-party publishing". Gamasutra. from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ Wallace, Chris (8 September 2021). "DONTNOD introduces permanent work from home policy for all employees - Business News". MCV/DEVELOP. from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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External links edit
- Official website