Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Essential Hardware PC Gaming Show Dune: Awakening Recommended reading Gaming Industry Eidos Montreal lays off more employees: 'We don’t have the capacity to entirely reallocate them to our other ongoing projects' Gaming Industry All System Dance developer announces layoffs 'due to financial challenges' Gaming Industry The 37-year-old studio behind Myst and Riven laid off 'roughly half' of its staff: 'Our sincere hope is to continue to be around' Gaming Industry Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic confirms layoffs: 'The landscape is shifting, and with it, so must we' Gaming Industry Bloodlines 2 developer The Chinese Room has laid off employees, but Paradox says the game is still coming in October Game Development 'We wish to express our deepest regret': Bulletstorm and Outriders dev People Can Fly suspends unannounced projects in yet another wave of gaming layoffs Gaming Industry RuneScape studio Jagex confirms layoffs 'to reduce complexity, increase agility, and ensure we are fully focused on the areas that matter most' Gaming Industry Lost Records developer Don't Nod Montreal lays off an undisclosed number of employees Andy Chalk 26 June 2025 The cuts come less than a year after Don't Nod paused work on two projects amidst the failure of Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden to meet expectations. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Don't Nod) Don't Nod has reportedly laid off an undisclosed number of developers from its Montreal office. The layoffs have not been formally announced but were revealed in posts made by multiple impacted employees on LinkedIn. "Today, I was part of the layoff wave at Don't Nod Montréal," principal cinematic artist Mary Pouliot wrote. "Although I was anticipating this dread 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." "The omnipresent waves of layoffs in our industry finally got to us after the release of Bloom and Rage," technical artist Laurent Dufresne wrote in a separate post. "Sadly while we managed what feels like a miracle given circumstances, it didn't seem like enough to keep our relatively small team whole and a non-insignificant chunk of it was lost today." Related Articles Eidos Montreal lays off more employees: 'We don’t have the capacity to entirely reallocate them to our other ongoing projects' All System Dance developer announces layoffs 'due to financial challenges' The 37-year-old studio behind Myst and Riven laid off 'roughly half' of its staff: 'Our sincere hope is to continue to be around' Lead QA and senior tester Sandra Cormier and senior game and level designer Mathieu Tremblay were also part of the cuts. "These past 3 years, I've learned a lot as a Lead QA but also as a part of a wonderful QA team," Cormier wrote. "I will never stop saying how much I am proud of my colleagues." Tremblay echoed that sentiment, saying he is "incredibly proud of what the team at Don't Nod Montreal accomplished with Lost Records: Bloom and Rage," and that "shipping the game with this level of quality was nothing short of a miracle in the circumstances." The reported layoffs come less than a year after Don't Nod said it was "temporarily pausing" work on two in-development games because its then-recent releases Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden "performed well below expectations" despite enjoying "an excellent critical reception." Jusant, which Don't Nod Montreal contributed to, is the standout, a "sublime" fantasy rock climbing game that scored 89% in our 2003 review, but Banishers earned plaudits as well as a ghost story "stretched a little thin, but still well worth exploring." Lost Records: Bloom & Rage was also well received, although reviewer Autumn Wright noted that the second, concluding chapter was weaker than the first (which, to be clear, was very good): Shorter, buggier, and rushed, but still delivering a "strong narrative conclusion [that] is worth seeing." The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. While Don't Nod itself hasn't commented on the layoffs, the French videogame workers union Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo said nine employees at Don't Nod Montreal have been let go, and another seven have been given a "temporary suspension," in order to "reduce costs across the group." The union has previously criticized the "catastrophic decisions" of management at Don't Nod, and in October 2024 denounced a plan to lay off employees at the company's Paris studio. STJV repeated those criticisms in messages posted to Bluesky, and called for further unionization of videogame workers in North America. 🇬🇧 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". We support the colleagues affected. The STJV strongly condemns Oskar Guilbert’s catastrophic management of the company.— @stjv.fr (@stjv.fr.bsky.social) 2025-06-26T21:51:26.785Z "In France, the union fight succeeded in drastically limiting the number of layoffs and in obtaining acceptable departure conditions," the union wrote. "We encourage and support our comrades and colleagues who are organising the industry across the Atlantic! Direct action gets the goods." I've reached out to Don't Nod for comment and will update if I receive a reply. Social Links Navigation US News Lead Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Eidos Montreal lays off more employees: 'We don’t have the capacity to entirely reallocate them to our other ongoing projects' All System Dance developer announces layoffs 'due to financial challenges' The 37-year-old studio behind Myst and Riven laid off 'roughly half' of its staff: 'Our sincere hope is to continue to be around' Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic confirms layoffs: 'The landscape is shifting, and with it, so must we' Bloodlines 2 developer The Chinese Room has laid off employees, but Paradox says the game is still coming in October 'We wish to express our deepest regret': Bulletstorm and Outriders dev People Can Fly suspends unannounced projects in yet another wave of gaming layoffs Latest in Gaming Industry Chris Avellone joins with former Quantic Dream writer to work on a 'dark fantasy' RPG Top-10 Steam game Bongo Cat is 'actually losing us money' says dev, which is fine because it's been great for business: 'Before, we knocked on 50 doors; now, they are coming to us' This month 25 years ago in PC gaming, our biggest concerns were pro gaming, moral panics about violent games… and we still thought Halo was a PC exclusive The 'Stop Killing Games' initiative is close to its final deadline, and after that, its leader is understandably done: 'Either the frog hops out of the pot, or it's dead' Bloodlines 2 developer The Chinese Room has laid off employees, but Paradox says the game is still coming in October Resident game industry weirdo Yoko Taro laments that there aren't as many 'weird' people making videogames as there used to be Latest in News Dune director Denis Villeneuve will direct the next Bond film for Amazon MGM, despite already being attached to four other upcoming films, including Cleopatra IO Interactive CEO estimates that Hitman 3 only cost a fifth of Hitman 2016's budget because the studio was brave enough to stop making new bathrooms for every game: 'I swore never to do more new toilets' It's not just you—Steam is getting absolutely crushed under the Summer Sale Chris Avellone joins with former Quantic Dream writer to work on a 'dark fantasy' RPG Dying Light 2's new Balatro costume may be the most cursed crossover I've ever seen Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 gets a horde mode, and one class gets a thunder hammer because the devs thought 'it will be very cool' HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested Razer Iskur V2 X review Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS review AverMedia Live Gamer Ultra S GC553Pro review Peak review: The best kind of co-op game—tricky, rewarding, and absolutely hilarious. System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remastered is a light touch remaster, but it's the best way to play the imsim classic PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Accessibility Statement Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Please login or signup to comment Please wait...