Among the lay-offs affecting the gaming industry, this time around, DON’T NOD has also been hit. As revealed by principal cinematic artist Mary Pouliot on LinkedIn, DON’T NOD Montreal has been affected by lay-offs. Along with Pouliot, technical artist Laurent Dufresne has also revealed that he was among the employees laid off from the studio.
“Today, I was part of the layoff wave at DON’T NOD Montréal,” posted Pouliot on LinkedIn. “Although I was anticipating this dreadly fatality that is now a habit in the industry, it came to me as a real shock. I did not anticipate that this morning when waking up and going to the studio. But there it is. No cinematic artist anymore at DNM.”
DON’T NOD hasn’t yet released any public statements about the matter. However, French union for video game developers Syndicat de Travailleureuses du Jeu Video has released its own statement on the matter. On social media, the union posted that it had been informed of 7 employees of DON’T NOD Montreal being affected by “temporary suspension”, while 9 have been hit by lay-offs. According to the union, the lay-offs and suspensions were made to “reduce costs across the group”.
“Don’t Nod Montréal: we have been informed of the lay-offs of 9 colleagues and the ‘temporary suspension’ of 7 others in order to ‘reduce costs across the group’, posted the union on BlueSky. “We support the colleagues affected. The STJV strongly condemns Oskar Guilbert’s catastrophic management of the company.”
“In France, the union fight succeeded in drastically limiting the number of lay-offs and in obtaining acceptable departure conditions. We encourage and support our comrades and colleagues who are organising the industry across the Atlantic! Direct action gets the goods.”
Along with Pouliot and Dufresne, lead senior tester part of the QA team Sandra Cormier and senior game and level designer Mathieu Tremblay were also among those affected by these lay-offs.
“I am saddened to say I was part of yet another wave of layoffs affecting the video game industry,” posted Tremblay on LinkedIn. “I am incredibly proud of what the team at Don’t Nod Montreal accomplished with Lost Records: Bloom and Rage and shipping the game with this level of quality was nothing short of a miracle in the circumstances. I wish for all others affected by this wave of layoffs to land on their feet quickly, as they are truly exceptional people.”
The whole industry seems to be facing quite a few lay-offs in recent times. Earlier this month, a report indicated that Microsoft might be looking to let some of its employees from across the Xbox division go. According to the report, more than a dozen employees have been worried about these lay-offs.
The company had also let go of 3 percent of its workforce from across all of its teams back in May. According to the reports of the time, more than 6,000 employees across the company were affected by these lay-offs.
DON’T NOD, in the meantime, is working on a new game – Aphelion. The title was announced earlier this month with a trailer.
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In France, the union fight succeeded in drastically limiting the number of lay-offs and in obtaining acceptable departure conditions. We encourage and support our comrades and colleagues who are organising the industry across the Atlantic! Direct action gets the goods
— Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (@stjv.fr) 2025-06-26T16:57:46.059Z
