Don’t Nod Has Seven Games in the Works, Four of Them Unannounced

Don’t Nod, once the developer best known for the quirky adventure game Life is Strange, has seven games in development, four of which remain unannounced. With releases like Vampyr and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden under its belt (and more on the way), it’s clear that the company has larger publishing ambitions, wants to become a real player in a specific economic space, and is reorganizing accordingly.

Speaking to IGN, Don’t Nod, which has studios in Paris and Montreal, will reorient the company, focusing on what it sees as its “three distinct internal branches of expertise”: narrative adventure, action adventure, and RPGs. These branches will specialize; for example, the action adventure branch is in Paris, and those devs will “increase their know-how and do better and better games from game to game.”

The games we know about include Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, which looks like a proper Life is Strange successor. Koira (developed externally by Tolima but published by Don’t Nod) is a “musical, hand-drawn adventure.” The third is an unnamed project with Italian developer Tiny Bull Studios. One of the unannounced games, at least, appears to be a fantasy RPG not expected until “beyond 2025”.

Astutely, CEO Oskar Guilbert has identified a potentially sustainable space in the market, and frankly, one we wish more would (or could) chase: “We feel like also in response to what’s happening in the industry, we need to focus on the games that are more AA or a bit above that, not necessarily going into the AAA landscape. So it’s a bit easier also for us to really focus our efforts and our different talents to hopefully avoid being in a situation where we have to make tough decisions. So, focusing and building is our main focus right now.”