Four Nacon subsidiary studios have filed for insolvency earlier this week, as the French publisher tries to dig its way out of financial crisis.
As of Monday 23rd March, game developers Spiders (GreedFall, Steelrising), Cyanide (Styx, Blood Bowl, Tour de France), Kylotonn (Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, WRC) and motion capture company Nacon Tech have all filed for insolvency separately from their parent company. This allows them to individually partake in judicial reorganisation proceedings and find a way back towards sustainability.
As for Nacon themselves, they have “begun work on the outline of a restructuring plan for the group comprising the Company and its subsidiaries.” The full process of filing for insolvency in this manner allows them time to continue operating while renegotiating debt with creditors, and seeking a new financial path forward, with assistance and supervision from judicial administrators.
This whole crisis started in February when Nacon parent and majority stakeholder Bigben Interactive defaulted on a €43 million bond repayment, which sent shockwaves through its subsidiary. In the meantime, Nacon has postponed its Nacon Connect showcase, which had been due in early March.
That stream would no doubt have heavily featured Nacon games coming out in March and April, though Nacon has been able to push on and release these games. Unfortunately, they might not move the needle much at this time. Two games launching out of Early Access this month, GreedFall: The Dying World has a decidedly mixed reaction both from critics and players, and while hack ‘n’ slash RPG Dragonkin: The Banished has a better player response but only a smattering of critic reviews. The next big launch is Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss on 16th April.
We sincerely hope that Nacon is able to find a successful path ahead, making up a significant part of the French game development industry and providing much needed variety of games that they offer.
Source: Nacon
