Tell Me Why Studio Don’t Nod Says Seven Games in the Works, Four of Them Unannounced
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Don’t Nod currently has seven games in the works, four of which are unannounced, the studio behind Tell Me Why, Vampyr, and the original Life is Strange announced today.
The projects include Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, which was announced during The Game Awards 2023 and purports to be the start of a connected universe. Five of the projects are being developed internally, with the remaining two being handled by external devs Tolima and Tiny Bull Studios. Tolima is developing Koira, a “musical, hand-drawn adventure” that will be published by Don’t Nod.
Don’t Nod’s plans are part of a larger reorganization announced today that will see if focus on what it calls “three distinct internal branches of expertise” RPG, narrative adventure, and action adventure. According to Don’t Nod, while each branch will have its “own focus,” the studio will still encourage “collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas.”
Don’t Nod has studios in Paris and Montreal. The Montreal studio is currently working on Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.
“We have action RPG, [Don’t Nod executive Sophie Filip] mentioned it with Vampyr and Banishers. We have the studio in Montreal, which is also very important for us with the Life is Strange team. And we also have another branch in Paris, which is the action adventure branch, which when people will also be able to continue to increase their know-how and do better and better games from game to game,” CEO Oskar Guilbert told IGN in an interview
Filip added, “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 the situation where we have to make tough decisions. So, focusing and building is our main focus right now.”
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
Don’t Nod’s most recent game is Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, which we said featured “a memorable story and inspired investigative cases that help offset its wonky combat.” While Filip didn’t reveal hard numbers, she said it was successful and that publisher Focus Entertainment is “quite happy.”
Don’t Nod will try and expand its ambitions with Lost Records, which will see to build a universe through a series of standalone games that will drive a larger narrative. Asked whether Lost Records will be similar to SuperMassive’s Dark Pictures Anthology, Filip said they will be but that Don’t Nod wants to “connect them a bit more than that.”
It’s currently under development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
