After the closure of Spiders, the studio behind GreedFall and Steelrising, France’s video game workers’ union has openly turned against Nacon. The organization says the publisher’s business decisions led to social destruction, and it is now calling on players to boycott the company’s games and products.
Nacon’s crisis has escalated to a new level following the closure of its subsidiary studio Spiders, best known as the creator of GreedFall and Steelrising. After the disappearance of one of the publisher’s French studios, the Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo, France’s video game workers’ union, has not only publicly condemned the company’s management, but has gone further by urging players to boycott Nacon products.
The origin of the crisis goes back to February 25, when Nacon announced that it would file for bankruptcy protection because of financial difficulties. That decision directly affected all of its studios, but the Paris-based Spiders was hit the hardest. The studio soon entered a sale process that was supposed to help save Nacon, yet the French company ultimately announced its closure on April 29, just 19 days after the release of GreedFall: The Dying World.
This complex move resulted in dozens of layoffs and prompted a response from the STJV. The union was unequivocal, and in a statement titled “The Liquidation of Spiders, a Story of Social Destruction,” it accused Nacon of carrying out a business strategy it described as “first-degree murder.” In other words, the organization argues that the publisher got rid of the development studio by putting it up for sale through a process that had very little chance of succeeding. In this context, the French industry workers’ organization also criticized the lack of responsibility shown toward the affected employees.
According To The Union, Nacon Blocked Spiders From Obtaining Money From Third Parties
Among the most serious accusations, the union claims that Spiders has not received royalties from sales of its own games since the launch of GreedFall in September 2019, which would effectively amount to Nacon confiscating revenue. This was compounded by the 2025 cancellation of a key project known only as Dark. That decision left the studio without clear medium-term alternatives to sustain its activity, beyond taking GreedFall 2 out of early access, a game that, according to the report, even changed its name in an attempt to appeal more directly to players.
According to sources within the French union, the situation is even worse. They allege that Nacon repeatedly delayed signing Spiders’ contract as part of the French company’s portfolio after the release of its latest game. The title in question is not specified, but the studio’s last full release was Steelrising in 2022. The union also claims that the publisher prevented Spiders from seeking external funding or collaborating with other partners, while ignoring warnings from employee representatives about the precarious financial situation and the strategic decisions made before entering this restructuring phase.
The story looks especially grotesque given that Nacon is almost bankrupt, yet it has already set a date and time for its next video game event, complete with a “ghost” in the announcement. That contrast only reinforces the feeling that there is a huge gap between the company’s public communication and the studio closures happening behind the scenes. The closure of Spiders is therefore not just another studio loss, but an industry case in which worker representation is now openly asking consumers to apply pressure.
As a result, the STJV has made an unusual appeal to the gaming community: boycott Nacon products. While the union acknowledges the value of the games developed and the effort of their creators, it argues that continuing to buy the company’s titles would help support practices it considers harmful to the industry. For now, the union’s action is limited to this boycott, but Nacon’s situation is still far from stable, and the Spiders case is unlikely to disappear quickly from the French video game conversation.
Source: 3DJuegos
