Maxime Member Oct 27, 2017 3,523 DON'T NOD published their FY2024 today. If you've been following the studio, you know shit is fucked. The tl;dr: DON'TNOD said: Operating revenues and operating EBITDA impacted by the commercial underperformance of 2023 and 2024 game releases in an extremely competitive and concentrated market Results significantly impacted by non-cash accounting adjustment of portfolio value Robust consolidated cash position of €32.9 million Execution of strategy, with a refocus on three production lines to adapt to new market conditions Click to expand... Click to shrink... Oskar Guilbert said: Our 2024 results reflect performances that fell short of our expectations for recent productions, despite a very positive critical reception. They also include a non-cash accounting adjustment to the value of our portfolio. As part of our transformation and refocusing efforts, we also had to implement a structural cost-saving plan aimed at focusing our efforts on three production lines. This approach is in line with our commitment to secure the Group's resources and strengthen its ability to operate in an increasingly competitive and selective environment. We are actively pursuing our efforts to secure funding for our upcoming productions while also exploring opportunities related to high-profile licenses owned by major entertainment industry players. We remain firmly focused on the future and fully committed to executing our strategy to strengthen our competitiveness, improve our profitability and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Full report: https://www.dontnod-bourse.com/en/financial-information/press-releases?ID=ACTUS-0-91063 The interesting bits (to me): DONT'NOD said: Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, has received critical acclaim. The game has a Metacritic score of 80 and a Steam user score of 92%, further confirming DON'T NOD's expertise in the Narrative Adventure genre. Backed by a strategic partnership with Sony, the game's sales are in line with forecasts, in an increasingly selective market. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Whatever that mean, yes. DON'T NOD said: No development revenues due to the completion of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and no new co-production projects initiated during the period; Click to expand... Click to shrink... This lines makes it like there are no new project with Focus, with which they co-produced Vampyr & Banishers. I was expecting a Vampyr 2 given they they still talk about it as a strong back catalog title: DON'T NOD said: A 14% increase in sales to €3.2 million, mainly driven by the back catalog (Vampyr and the Life is Strange license) and the contribution of Jusant (released at the end of October 2023) and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (released mid-February 2024); Click to expand... Click to shrink... Last bullet point of their six key pillars: DON'T NOD said: Seizing opportunities for partnerships on successful IPs not owned by the Group to diversify sources of revenue while limiting risks. Click to expand... Click to shrink... First knee jerk reaction is thinking about Life is Strange, but I'm not sure what's to expect of this IP going forward. As of now, the Paris studio is on two projects (many on ice at best, gutted otherwise). No idea what's next for Montreal after Lost Records.  Last edited: Wednesday at 2:40 PM PlanetSmasher The Abominable Showman Member Oct 25, 2017 131,220 That's a relief. They deserved a way, way better result for Banishers last year and I'm really sad that game seems to have flopped. It was such a great first attempt and a sequel could've ironed out a lot of its rough edges.   Syne It's Pronounced "Aerith" Member Feb 5, 2023 9,485 UK Maxime said: I was expecting a Vampyr 2 Click to expand... Click to shrink... Man I would love a Vampyr 2.   Phantom_Snake The Fallen Jul 26, 2018 4,738 Montana I'll take a Dont Nod Life is Strange 3   The Praiseworthy Member Oct 30, 2017 10,322 Happy to hear this. I will start the game tomorrow, it will be my weekend's game.  CloseTalker Sister in the Craft Member Oct 25, 2017 37,748 Phantom_Snake said: I'll take a Dont Nod Life is Strange 3 Click to expand... Click to shrink... At this point I think it's fair to assume Life is Strange is just not a terribly valuable IP. Or at the very least, it's incredibly high-risk.   Akai Member Oct 25, 2017 6,232 Didn't even realize that the game released. I blame my backlog. 🥲 Gonna buy that and Jusant on vacation.  Blade30 Member Oct 26, 2017 5,835 Sounds like Lost Record is doing good enough, I'll take it because it's a good game.   defaltoption Plug in a controller and enter the Konami code The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 12,270 Austin If Microsoft wasn't so good at firing people and closing studios, this would have been a great team to have for their game pass model. Great freaking games without people to play them. I have bought everything this team has made and will continue to do so, hopefully they're around for the long haul. This is the tier of dev and pub we can't afford to lose in this industry, folks like them, Remedy, Frogwares, have to stick around.  vixolus Prophet of Truth Member Sep 22, 2020 69,670 Blade30 said: Sounds like Lost Record is doing good enough, I'll take it because it's a good game. Click to expand... Click to shrink... In line with expectations doesn't really mean "good enough" though. Their sales expectations could have been low given the staggered release / release on ps+. Its vague   bitcloudrzr Member May 31, 2018 20,173 PlanetSmasher said: That's a relief. They deserved a way, way better result for Banishers last year and I'm really sad that game seems to have flopped. It was such a great first attempt and a sequel could've ironed out a lot of its rough edges. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Who knows, they may still try again if they think the ip has enough value.   Cheesetriangles Member Dec 5, 2017 2,386 Maybe I'm a pessimist, but that doesn't really tell me anything and whether sales were good or not. It sounds good, but when you examine it it really says nothing.   Uzzy Gabe’s little helper Member Oct 25, 2017 33,915 Hull, UK Big relief that. Was rather concerned about them given the recent failures.   SolidSnakex Member Oct 25, 2017 27,517 vixolus said: In line with expectations doesn't really mean "good enough" though. Their sales expectations could have been low given the staggered release / release on ps+. Its vague Click to expand... Click to shrink... This reads to me like it's doing well since they point out its performance while mentioning that the market is selective Backed by a strategic partnership with Sony, the game's sales are in line with forecasts, in an increasingly selective market. Click to expand... Click to shrink...   Viewt Member Oct 25, 2017 3,149 Chicago, IL PlanetSmasher said: That's a relief. They deserved a way, way better result for Banishers last year and I'm really sad that game seems to have flopped. It was such a great first attempt and a sequel could've ironed out a lot of its rough edges. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Agreed - the story and performances were great. The gameplay got a little samey (honestly the same issue I'm having with South of Midnight), but it was competent and I think there was room to grow for a sequel. I'm also a sucker for a colonial Northeast horror story, so I was right in that target demo haha.   Grimmy11 Member Oct 28, 2017 1,943 I think there's a big difference between "in line with forecasts" and "in line with expectations/targets" and "in an increasingly selective market." to me at least, implies forecasts were tempered  Tofd Member Jul 8, 2018 703 That's great news, Lost Record has been awesome so far. It could be my favorite depending on how episode 2 goes.   PlanetSmasher The Abominable Showman Member Oct 25, 2017 131,220 Viewt said: Agreed - the story and performances were great. The gameplay got a little samey (honestly the same issue I'm having with South of Midnight), but it was competent and I think there was room to grow for a sequel. I'm also a sucker for a colonial Northeast horror story, so I was right in that target demo haha. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I was also thinking it could be really interesting to see different stories about Banishers across history, like this one is in the colonial era but a sequel could be set in the 1800s or the early 1900s - how would their roles change? How would they be similar? Would they use the same tools or be forced to adapt?  shinobi602 Verified Oct 24, 2017 11,041 Glad to hear it's at least in line with projections and not something crazy that they expected. I'm looking forward to playing it soon, just have to wrap up AC Shadows.   PucePikmin Member Apr 26, 2018 5,212 Hopefully the can right the ship. In retrospect, they probably should have tried to buy the Life is Strange IP from Square Enix, or failing that, created a very obvious "successor" brand, and focused in on that, rather than spinning off with a half-dozen different one-off narrative series, and then trying to get back into the action-adventure space once narrative adventures had become their trademark.   penny toast Member Feb 20, 2024 939 glad they could forecast accurately for bloom & rage, but yeah to echo: that tells me nothing i can certainly [omissive implicature] guess; if forecasts were big big exciting then report would reflect excitement Tape 1 peaked at 3.0k steam ccu, will be curious to see where Tape 2 lands (since plenty could be holding off for full experience) Koira—also mentioned in the report, under the section titled Continuation of the transformation strategy —peaked at just 46 ccu, 91 reviews. can't imagine that's worth it in any capacity as a publisher but like i'm always going to root for a studio that releases a game like French Maritime Term just tricky to not feel dreadsense  9-Volt Member Oct 27, 2017 13,728 DON'T NOD x Famicom Detective Club DON'T NOD x Hotel Dusk Aw yeah. Please knock Nintendo's doors, DON'T NOD! Also ports of Banishers and Jusant on Switch 2 could earn them few extra bucks.  Renteka-Bond Chicken Chaser Member Dec 28, 2017 5,915 Clearwater, Florida I did my part. Still need to get to it (And True Colors and Double Exposure, honestly), but I did the important step at least. Completely lost track of time and Ep 2 is already gonna be out anyway lol.   t26 Avenger Oct 27, 2017 5,290 Could done even better but the physical version still has no release date, and no Xbox physical version.   kodax_shc Member Oct 27, 2017 7,328 Southern California t26 said: Could done even better but the physical version still has no release date, and no Xbox physical version. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Probably need to wait for part 2 to be out and bug fixed before sending off to be printed. I'd rather that with the most complete version possible on disc. No Xbox is a bummer though.  LostSkullKid Member Nov 27, 2017 5,073 Phantom_Snake said: I'll take a Dont Nod Life is Strange 3 Click to expand... Click to shrink... What would even be the point? They obviously don't have any interest in doing any kind of direct sequels like Deck Nine has, so what real point would there be in a new Life is Strange by them beyond using the name and maybe having some random cameo? If they had the rights, they could have called this game Life is Strange 3 instead of Lost Records but would there have been any real point to that?   Darth Smurf X Member Oct 25, 2017 2,232 Hoth, WI Phantom_Snake said: I'll take a Dont Nod Life is Strange 3 Click to expand... Click to shrink... I didn't like LiS2, but I'd still take a DONT NOD LiS3. Or 5—whatever number we're on.  Zukkoyaki Member Oct 25, 2017 14,114 I hope this is good because it's hard to tell lol. The failure of Banishers still stings. Its character writing and dialogue are in the 99th percentile of all video games. Both are phenomenal. Going to go down as a historically underrated game.  Grakchawwaa Member Mar 10, 2022 621 I really liked tape 1 of Bloom and Rage. Characters have that special kind of 90s teenage angst cringe that you can't find anywhere else. The camera was a fun addition as cozy collection content. Need to play tape 2 now that it's out.   DontHateTheBacon Unshakable Resolve Member Oct 27, 2017 14,118 Game doesn't appeal to me at all, but I'm glad that it seems to be finding its audience out there. I just really don't want to see any more studios laying off devs and closing. 😩   JurassicJack17 Banned Jun 22, 2021 3,151 User banned (1 month): Trolling, platform wars, and hostility. Multiple prior bans for the same. vixolus said: In line with expectations doesn't really mean "good enough" though. Their sales expectations could have been low given the staggered release / release on ps+. Its vague Click to expand... Click to shrink... Well as an Xbox gamer I'm sure you know all about low sales   Kaiserstarky Member Oct 30, 2017 1,785 PlanetSmasher said: That's a relief. They deserved a way, way better result for Banishers last year and I'm really sad that game seems to have flopped. It was such a great first attempt and a sequel could've ironed out a lot of its rough edges. Click to expand... Click to shrink... bitcloudrzr said: Who knows, they may still try again if they think the ip has enough value. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Considering that Jusant did better than Banishers despite the game having a bad Game Pass deal, the game's sales still allowed it to recoup half of its initial budget, which isn't very good in itself, I'll let you imagine the extent of the failure of Banishers, which had a budget three times higher than Jusant's. Don't Nod was working on a brand new large-scale action RPG known internally as Project 12, but with the studio's poor financial results, the project had to be put on hold.  FakePlasticTree Member Jul 24, 2018 13,516 Lost Bloom is good and deserves the sales   penny toast Member Feb 20, 2024 939 Kaiserstarky said: Considering that Jusant did better than Banishers despite the game having a bad Game Pass deal, the game's sales still allowed it to recoup half of its initial budget, which isn't very good in itself, I'll let you imagine the extent of the failure of Banishers, which had a budget three times higher than Jusant's. Don't Nod was working on a brand new large-scale action RPG known internally as Project 12, but with the studio's poor financial results, the project had to be put on hold. Click to expand... Click to shrink... am curious, do u have source on jusant performance / budget?   Kaiserstarky Member Oct 30, 2017 1,785 penny toast said: am curious, do u have source on jusant performance / budget? Click to expand... Click to shrink... A French magazine, "JV le mag," published an article a few months ago about the studio's situation, with employees sharing this kind of information along with other details.   Stef Member Oct 28, 2017 7,516 Rome, Italy, Planet Earth Good! Now give them Shenmue and ask them to complete the story in a 10-12 hours adventure. For sure this can't be worse than Shenmue 3.  ket Member Jul 27, 2018 14,781 I dont get why they dont want to make vampyr 2? The first game sold more than 1M copies and had an interesting npc mechanic.   Ceerious Member Oct 27, 2017 3,156 Asian "Sales are in line with forecasts" is considerably better than "perform well below expectations," which was used by the company to describe Jusant and Banisher's performance. However, the report's most troubling info is this: The Group accordingly posted a consolidated net loss of €64.3 million in 2024 compared to a loss of €14.8 million the previous year, including more than €50.0 million in non-cash charges. Click to expand... Click to shrink... This is hardly sustainable. They need to make 2025-2026 the reversal point.  danmaku Member Nov 5, 2017 3,450 Good to know that Lost Records is doing ok, but Dontnod are still in trouble. They cancelled 2 projects and suspended 2 more. They really need a hit.   penny toast Member Feb 20, 2024 939 Kaiserstarky said: A French magazine, "JV le mag," published an article a few months ago about the studio's situation, with employees sharing this kind of information along with other details. Click to expand... Click to shrink... interesting, thank u for sharing!   vixolus Prophet of Truth Member Sep 22, 2020 69,670 JurassicJack17 said: Well as an Xbox gamer I'm sure you know all about low sales Click to expand... Click to shrink... Im just now seeing this and am DYING. What the hell lmao Kaiserstarky said: Considering that Jusant did better than Banishers despite the game having a bad Game Pass deal, the game's sales still allowed it to recoup half of its initial budget, which isn't very good in itself, I'll let you imagine the extent of the failure of Banishers, which had a budget three times higher than Jusant's. Don't Nod was working on a brand new large-scale action RPG known internally as Project 12, but with the studio's poor financial results, the project had to be put on hold. Click to expand... Click to shrink... That sucks that Jusant wasn't a success and even got a bad deal. I really liked Jusant. Banishers flopping doesn't surprise me. Nothing looked like a hook and it just sounded very generic   Firima Member Oct 27, 2017 4,784 I...didn't even know B&R was already out.   KRA Member Aug 5, 2022 305 hmm a lot of people will hate that but when it comes to games in vain of vampyr or banishers maybe a known ip could help them out and i say that because i would love them to do some marvel game like daredevil? or something more obscure... werewolf by night maybe?   Son of Sparda "This guy are sick" says The Wise Ones Member Oct 25, 2017 17,179 Haven't played B&R yet (I should get on that soon), but I REALLY tried to like Jusant and after 3-4 hours I just couldn't continue...   Anya7890 Member Oct 25, 2017 6,649 In between apocalyptic dystopian hellscapes. Say thank you to the abyss!   kurahador Member Oct 28, 2017 19,617 ket said: I dont get why they dont want to make vampyr 2? The first game sold more than 1M copies and had an interesting npc mechanic. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Guess its publisher isn't interested and DONTNOD don't have the budget for it.   ket Member Jul 27, 2018 14,781 KRA said: hmm a lot of people will hate that but when it comes to games in vain of vampyr or banishers maybe a known ip could help them out and i say that because i would love them to do some marvel game like daredevil? or something more obscure... werewolf by night maybe? Click to expand... Click to shrink... A daredevil dontnod game would be great