Nacon Files for Insolvency: 11 Studios and Multiple Unreleased Games at Risk as French Publisher Faces Collapse
TL;DR
- French publisher and holding company Nacon has filed for insolvency ("déclaration de cessation des paiements") after parent company Bigben entered financial difficulty, with the company stating its available assets "do not allow it to meet its due liabilities."
- Eleven studios sit under the Nacon banner and face an uncertain future, including Spiders (GreedFall), Daedalic (The Lord of the Rings: Gollum), Cyanide (Styx: Blades of Greed), Big Ant Studios, and Kylotonn (Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown).
One of France's most prominent gaming publishers has hit a wall. Nacon, the company behind more than a decade of game publishing activity and home to eleven development studios, announced early on February 25th that it has filed for insolvency. The news was delivered to employees the day before, on February 24th, and the company's shares have since ceased trading on the Paris stock exchange as the judicial process begins.
For the broader gaming industry, this is a significant moment. Nacon's collapse, if it cannot be restructured, would affect not just the company itself but the futures of multiple development teams, hundreds of employees, and a lineup of unfinished games that may never reach players.
What Nacon's Statement Actually Said
The company published its press release at 8 AM CET, and the language used in the official statement leaves little room for optimism about the immediate situation. Nacon's representatives wrote:
"To date, the Company reports that its available assets do not allow it to meet its due liabilities. In this context, the Company will, as of today, file for insolvency ("déclaration de cessation des paiements") with the Court and request the opening of judicial reorganisation proceedings ("redressement judiciaires")."
The statement continued: "The aim of this procedure is to assess all possible solutions to ensure the sustainability of the Company's activity under the best possible conditions, protect employees, and preserve jobs, while renegotiating with its creditors in a calm and constructive framework."
The judicial reorganisation process, known in French commercial law as redressement judiciaire, is a formal court-supervised restructuring mechanism. It gives a company in financial difficulty time and legal protection to renegotiate with creditors and attempt to find a viable path forward, whether through operational restructuring, asset sales, or finding new investment. It is not an automatic liquidation, and the stated aim of protecting employees and preserving jobs is consistent with how the process is designed to function.
However, the outcome is far from guaranteed. If the court-supervised process fails to produce a viable reorganisation plan, the proceedings can convert into liquidation, which would mean the end of the company entirely.
A hearing before the relevant court has been scheduled for early March to review the next steps and formally open the proceedings.
How Nacon Got Here
Nacon's history stretches back to 1981, though the company operated under a different identity for most of its existence. For decades it was known as Bigben Interactive, building a business that spanned game publishing, software distribution, and gaming peripherals. One of its most notable early chapters was distributing Sega's Dreamcast consoles at the turn of the millennium, a piece of gaming history that gives the company genuine longevity in the industry.
In 2019, the company restructured and consolidated its gaming-focused activities under the new Nacon brand, creating a dedicated gaming identity separate from the broader Bigben Group corporate structure. Bigben Group retained majority control, holding more than 76 percent of Nacon's shares, which means the financial difficulties at the parent company level have now directly triggered the crisis at the subsidiary.
The relationship between Bigben's financial position and Nacon's insolvency filing is straightforward in structural terms.
The Eleven Studios Now Facing Uncertainty
The most immediate human cost of Nacon's situation falls on the people working at the studios under its umbrella. Eleven development teams are now waiting to find out what happens to their projects, their contracts, and their jobs.
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