This morning Don't Nod, studio known for starting the Life is Strange franchise and more recent titles such as Tell Me Why, Twin Mirror, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie, Jusant or Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, as well as publishing Gerda: A Flame in Winter and Koira, has today applied to Euronext to suspend the listing of its shares on the Paris stock exchange. The brief document published by the body should be accompanied by an official statement from the company, but four hours later there is still no official extra report.
Exiting the stock market is not necessarily a bad omen, but it is also a sign of important changes internally, especially on the investment side. At the time of writing it is impossible to know what will happen, but remember that Lost Records: Bloom & Rage will be released in early 2025, which is almost finished, so it would be strange to anticipate a restructuring or closure.
The most likely assumption is that Tencent (which owns a majority stake in the company, with 41.9% of the total) is not very happy with the financial results of the last quarter and published last September, which showed the low sales of its latest titles, such as Banishers: Ghost of New Eden. This, together with the Chinese giant's moves to cut its investment portfolio in the West, may have led to a standstill in its share price. It is also not a good time for Don't Nod in terms of projects and development. Just a week ago, the studio's former narrative director Stephane Beauverger left the company after 15 years.
We'll keep an eye out for any new developments in the coming hours on this matter.