Life is Strange Developer Don’t Nod Suffers Devastating Setback Over Alleged Draconian Rules, Employees Threaten a Walkout

Life is Strange developer Don’t Nod is being criticized for not handling internal communications and management properly, which ultimately led to informed layoffs, causing havoc amongst fans.

The studio recently announced that it would be reorganizing following the failure of its recent games, including Banishers: Ghost of New Eden and Jusant. This reorganization will result in the layoffs of up to 69 positions.

Employees Have Resulted Against Don’t Nod’s Decisions

The management has imposed heavy restrictions on the negotiation process that the company is supposed to go through. This has led to a lot of frustration amongst employees who want a fair and just system to evaluate everything and come to a fair conclusion.

The company is currently facing a lot of pressure from Syndicat Des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Video (SJTV), which is a union that represents game industry workers in France. However, the time limit given to the organization to work has been reduced to a bare legal minimum, which is being criticized by employees who want more time.

The timeline is too small for experts to make an informed decision; they are required to give their opinions before SJTV concludes their agreement, which will result in them giving an incomplete opinion on the matter.

Life is Strange’s developer has refused in advance to let CSE hold additional meetings, hence keeping the ball in their court at all times. The information regarding layoffs was also not communicated fairly to the employees; this caught them by surprise, which ultimately led to this fisco.

Employees are trying their best to make their voices heard. The union is also by their side, doing their level best to come to a fair conclusion that leads to no further harm.

This Situation Is A Result of Don’t Nod’s Own Doing

This restructuring is attempted to streamline the studio’s operations and improve competitiveness following the failure of its 2 games. There are plans that include reshaping the company’s project lineup. Some games have already been paused or canceled amidst the chaos.

Employees demand a fair chance to exchange dialogue. They have demanded more time for CSE to work more efficiently and a total of 12 hours of delegation per meeting for the union representative. They also want the negotiation meetings to be spaced out by 48 hours. Here is a list of all the demands.

These demands are more than legitimate and need to be heard if the studio wants to maintain its reputation and build a healthy working culture from here on. It is important to clear both sides of the story to come to a fair judgment, and for that to happen, the entire procedure needs to be spaced out fairly. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments below.