Don't Nod warned it will run out of cash by November as Tencent refuses to invest

Don't Nod — the Paris-based studio behind Life is Strange, Lost Records, and this year's Aphelion — has been officially warned it will run out of money by November 2026. Auditors published a financial report this month stating that without new investment, the company's continued operation is at risk.

As of April, Don't Nod had €8.8m in cash — and that's essentially the runway. Tencent, which holds a 42% stake in the studio, has declined both to increase its shareholding and to co-finance the game currently in development. Studio president Oskar Guilbert has spent months searching for alternative partners, but none of those discussions have produced a structured financing offer. The auditors' report quotes the situation plainly: the facts described are likely to jeopardize the company's survival. The board of directors convened on 17th June to discuss options.

Three potential lifelines are on the table: securing a new major funding partner, launching the unannounced next game — Project P14 — earlier than planned, possibly in early 2027 with a reduced scope, or redeploying staff onto work-for-hire subcontracting projects. None of these has been confirmed. Don't Nod has been here before: a redundancy plan followed the commercial underperformance of Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden in 2024, and more staff were cut from the Montreal office earlier in 2025. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, released in February 2025 as a spiritual successor to Life is Strange, also failed to hit commercial targets.

The studio's predicament fits a wider pattern of Chinese conglomerates pulling back from Western game studios. Tencent already shuttered TiMi Montreal this year, while NetEase cut funding to Yakuza creator Nagoshi Studio's Gang of Dragon and closed Bad Brain Studios in November 2024. If Don't Nod can't lock down a deal in the coming months, layoffs or a full closure look increasingly likely.