French game developer DON'T NOD reported its financial results for the first half of 2024, and the news is not good, as both Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Jusant have underperformed. Oskar Guilbert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at DON'T NOD, said:
We are obviously disappointed by our recent performance in an extremely competitive and selective market. Despite an excellent critical reception, Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of new Eden unfortunately did not achieve the commercial results we had hoped for, resulting in a deterioration in our 2024 half-year results and leading us to consider all possible options regarding our roadmap.
It's a damn shame. Both were great games, and I have particularly enjoyed Banishers, as explained in my review of the action RPG:
There's little doubt Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is Don't Nod's finest action game yet. I would also venture to say it's one of their best games, period, not to mention a great action RPG in its own right thanks to enjoyable combat, a big world with lots of content to explore and interesting stories to experience, and particularly for the amazing couple of lover protagonists.
The two games' underperformance forced DON'T NOD to partially write down their assets for €24 million and temporarily suspend two projects in the design phase in Paris (P12 and P13) for another €7.6 million write-down. The developer will focus on completing Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, the spiritual successor to Life is Strange. Moreover, it will support two external publishing projects due to launch next year.
DON'T NOD is also exploring other options to be implemented as soon as possible to secure its operations and enhance value creation. The purpose of this review is to give DON'T NOD the ability to compete more successfully in a constantly evolving industry, respond effectively to the expectations of players and partners, and continue to offer innovative, high-quality experiences.
