By Kotaku | Created at 2026-09-10 10:20:49 | Updated at 2026-09-10 11:28:11
1 hour ago
Dontnod, developers of the original Life Is Strange and, more recently, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage and Aphelion, has admitted to growing financial uncertainty in its recent statements, acknowledging that the studio’s chances of continuing to operate without external funding beyond January 2027 are looking increasingly unlikely
In its most recent financial statement released last week, Dontnod admitted that its revenue had diminished by half year-on-year compared to the same period a year earlier. The data point contrasts the launch of what was then the studio’s latest game last year—Lost Records: Bloom and Rage—with the period following the release of its latest game this year—the science fiction adventure Aphelion—suggesting that sales for its latest title were lower overall. While additional investment came in as the result of the Montreal team’s development of an as-yet-unannounced narrative game based on “a major Netflix intellectual property,” this does mean the company brought in just €6.1 million in the first half of 2026. That represents a sharp, 56-percent decline year-on-year.
The result of this is that the studio’s liquid assets in cash and other transferable assets have similarly declined, leading Dontnod to declare that its “ability to continue operations depends partly on securing external financing to cover business operation and project development needs. This represents material uncertainty regarding the company’s ability to continue as a going concern beyond January 31, 2027.”
While Dontnod does have some investment in the form of the unannounced Netflix project cited here, it’s found itself forced to consider implementing a transformation of its direction that “may involve the reduction of up to 90 positions,” though this has yet to be finalized, while refocusing efforts of its French teams entirely on a single project in the hope of seeking new funding. Though Tencent invested in Dontnod in 2021 and owns a 41.9-percent stake in the studio, it has chosen not to make any short-term investments in the company to help it in its current state.
It leaves the long-standing studio in a precarious situation where layoffs appear likely and outright closure is not being ruled out. Whether Dontnod can find further funding in the coming months remains to be seen.
