French publisher Nacon, the company behind RoboCop: Rogue City and Hell is Us, has officially filed for insolvency and is now turning to the courts to figure out what comes next.
Nacon submitted a formal request to the Commercial Court of Lille Métropole, asking for the opening of a judicial reorganization process. This isn’t a full shutdown, but it’s not far from one either.
The problem didn’t start with Nacon
The crisis traces back to Bigben Interactive, Nacon’s majority shareholder, which couldn’t make a partial repayment on a bond loan after its banking pool issued an unexpected and last-minute refusal. That single domino knocked everything else over.
Nacon has acknowledged that its available assets don’t allow it to meet its current debt obligations, and with no clean way out, the company chose to go the legal route. Its shares have been suspended from the Paris stock market while everything gets sorted out.
In France, there’s a process called redressement judiciaire, essentially a court-supervised second chance. If the tribunal approves it, Nacon’s debts get frozen for up to 18 months, giving the company time to present a recovery plan and renegotiate with creditors. The court is expected to rule in early March.
Eleven studios are holding their breath
Here’s where it really hits home for gamers. Under Nacon’s umbrella operate eleven development studios, Spiders, responsible for GreedFall; Cyanide, behind the Styx saga; Kylotonn, which holds the WRC license and develops Test Drive Unlimited; Daedalic Entertainment; and several others. All of them are now waiting on a judge.
Nacon says the goal of this process is to find the best possible solutions to keep the company running, protect jobs, and negotiate with creditors in a calm and constructive way. Whether that actually happens is another story.
What’s wild is that Nacon hasn’t canceled its Nacon Connect event, still scheduled for March 4, where new games and project updates are set to be announced, all while a court decides the company’s fate. Every trailer shown that day is going to hit differently knowing the context behind it.
The games were never the problem. RoboCop: Rogue City and Hell is Us were among Nacon’s most recognized recent releases, the wound came from above, from a financial dependency on a parent company that couldn’t honor a banking commitment. When Bigben stumbled, Nacon went down with it.
March is going to be a defining month for the publisher and everyone working under it.
Do you think Nacon has a real shot at coming back from this, or is the damage already done? Let us know what you think in the comments!