It was no accident that we pointed out yesterday that Nacon is in insolvency proceedings. Here is yet another sign that the French publisher is in trouble.
Nacon’s restructuring saga continues: the French publisher has officially put another subsidiary up for sale, and this time it is not one of the studios that has already filed for bankruptcy. Midgar Studios, which is currently working on Edge of Memories (the game also appeared at Nacon Connect and in the news), is looking for a buyer. The listing appeared online yesterday, one day after this year’s Nacon Connect. It is unclear what will happen to Midgar if Nacon fails to find a buyer.
Nacon has already shut down GreedFall developer Spiders after no buyer emerged, and it is not impossible that Midgar Studios could meet the same fate. The current state of the video game industry does not look favourable for mergers and acquisitions, so Midgar’s official listing suggests that Nacon is trying to save the studio from closure, although that could still easily happen. It is also worrying that this happened right after news spread that Big Bad Wolf, the developer of Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, may also be facing closure, although that closure has not yet been confirmed. Another Nacon subsidiary, Kylotonn, is also reportedly being hit by layoffs, though it is unclear whether it will be shut down or merely face staff cuts.
As for Midgar Studios, the situation is made even more concerning by the fact that Edge of Memories still has no release date. The only fixed information for now is that it is due to launch sometime this year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC, but the fact that the studio is already up for sale may partly explain why no release date has been shown yet, as it is questionable whether the studio will survive long enough for the game to actually launch.
This sword of Damocles now hangs over every game in Nacon’s portfolio. Whether because of the closure of the studios working on the games or the withdrawal of Nacon’s publishing support, it is worth thinking about what kind of future awaits all of their projects…
Source: WCCFTech, Pivoine-Avocats
