Don't Nod Entertainment SA
  • Dontnod Entertainment (2008–2022)
  • Don't Nod (2022–present)
TypePublic
Euronext: ALDNE
ISINFR0013331212
IndustryVideo games
Founded1 May 2008 (2008-05-01)
Founders
  • Hervé Bonin
  • Aleksi Briclot
  • Alain Damasio
  • Oskar Guilbert
  • Jean-Maxime Moris
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Number of locations
2 studios (2022)
Key people
RevenueIncrease €13.95 million[1] (2019)
Decrease €-0.09 million[1] (2019)
Owner
Number of employees
320 (2022[3])
Websitedont-nod.com

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.

History

Dontnod developers receiving an award for Life Is Strange at the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards, with directors Raoul Barbet and Michel Koch and producer Luc Baghadoust present

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]

Don't Nod's logo until May 2022.

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

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

Year Title Platform(s) Developer(s)
2022 Gerda: A Flame in Winter Nintendo Switch, Windows PortaPlay
2025 Koira Windows Studio Tolima

References

  1. 1 2 "Euronext company information". Euronext. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "Successful completion of approximately EUR 46 million capital increase". Actusnews Wire (in French). 17 February 2023. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  3. ↑ "Don't NOD unveils a new visual identity - Studios". 31 May 2022. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Discover Our Story". Dontnod Entertainment. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "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.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Barnes, Ben (June 2016). "Dontnod Entertainment". Edge. No. 293. Future Publishing. pp. 94–97.
  9. ↑ Cario, Erwan (5 February 2015). "DontNod, de la suite dans le gameplay" (in French). Libération. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Hamilton, Kirk (4 February 2015). "What Telltale Could Learn From Life is Strange". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (2 December 2015). "This New World War 1 Vampire Game Explores a "Dark and Brutal" World". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 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.
  14. 1 2 Martin, Matt (14 August 2012). "Capcom grabs IP rights to new title Remember Me". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012.
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  18. ↑ Cusseau, Thomas (31 January 2014). "DONTNOD en redressement judiciaire". Gamekult (in French). Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 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.
  20. ↑ Futter, Mike (31 January 2014). "[Update] Remember Me Developer Denies Bankruptcy". GameInformer. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
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  23. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (14 August 2014). "Hitting reset: Dontnod's new episode". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014.
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  25. ↑ 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.
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  32. 1 2 Batchelor, James (25 July 2018). "The chart-topping return of Dontnod Entertainment". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018.
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  35. ↑ Copeland, Wesley (20 January 2015). "Remember Me and Life Is Strange Dev Making RPG Vampyr". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015.
  36. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (8 February 2018). "Dontnod's Vampyr rises on June 5". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018.
  37. ↑ Handrahan, Matthew (18 October 2016). ""There are not as many questions. We have more freedom now"". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016.
  38. ↑ Farokhmanesh, Megan (10 June 2018). "New Life is Strange game, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, coming June 26th". The Verge. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018.
  39. ↑ Phillips, Tom (18 May 2017). "Life is Strange 2 finally confirmed". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017.
  40. ↑ Riaz, Adnan (23 November 2015). "Life Is Strange Limited Edition Coming to North America for PC". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 27 July 2016.
  41. ↑ Porreca, Ray (18 May 2017). "A new Life is Strange game is in the works". Destructoid. ModernMethod. Archived from the original on 1 June 2017.
  42. ↑ Phillips, Tom (22 June 2018). "Life is Strange 2's first episode has a release date". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018.
  43. ↑ Van Allen, Eric (14 November 2019). "Life is Strange Developer's New Game Will Explore Memories and the Trans Experience Through Twins". USgamer. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019.
  44. ↑ Byrne, Katharine (22 August 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Bandai Namco partners with Life is Strange studio Dontnod on new narrative adventure IP". MCV. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
  45. ↑ 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.
  46. ↑ Romano, Sal (29 May 2020). "Dontnod Entertainment opens Montreal studio". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 29 May 2020.
  47. ↑ Tiraxa (29 May 2020). "Dontnod Entertainment ouvre un nouveau bureau à Montréal" [Dontnod Entertainment opens a new office in Montreal]. Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Archived from the original on 29 May 2020.
  48. ↑ Messner, Steven (27 January 2021). "Tencent acquires a minority stake in Life is Strange developer Dontnod". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  49. ↑ Kerr, Chris (8 April 2021). "Life is Strange dev Dontnod is branching into third-party publishing". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  50. ↑ Wallace, Chris (8 September 2021). "DONTNOD introduces permanent work from home policy for all employees - Business News". MCV/DEVELOP. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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  54. ↑ Phillips, Tom (7 December 2023). "Original Life is Strange team share first teaser for new project". Eurogamer. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  55. ↑ Romano, Sal (7 December 2023). "DON'T NOD announces Lost Records: Bloom & Rage for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 8 December 2023.

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