French game publisher and accessory maker Nacon has filed for insolvency, one week ahead of its planned Nacon Connect games showcase, and two weeks ahead of publishing GreedFall 2‘s exit from early access.
Nacon is a fairly big name in the French game development world. It’s most known for publishing a variety of sports titles, including annual cricket, cycling and racing titles (Cricket, Tour de France, WRC, Pro Cycling Manager, Test Drive) but it has also dabbled in various other adventure, RPG and simulator games over the years.
Nacon files for insolvency – quick links
What we know about Nacon’s insolvency filing
Per the filing, Nacon was allegedly forced to declare insolvency as a result of its majority shareholder, Bigben Interactive, failing to make a partial loan repayment in time, due to ‘an unexpected and late refusal by its banking pool’.
Nacon will now attempt to restructure its debt, to settle back into solvency and continue operation.
The aim is 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. This procedure will enable the company to continue its business, renegotiate its debts, and develop a credible and effective continuation plan.’
Nacon is now gearing up for a major court hearing in early March, with this expected to determine the company’s future.
What Nacon’s insolvency could mean
It appears Nacon has a plan in place to restructure its debt and thereby continue operation, but as it notes in its filing, it is currently subject to a ‘video game sector marked by long investment cycles and significant transformations’.
The possibility remains that the company will not able to continue as it has, which would have significant knock-on consequences for an array of studios and games.
Nacon’s most successful recent title was RoboCop: Rogue City, an adaptation of the RoboCop film franchise. It recently published sci-fi horror Hell is Us, and stealth adventure Styx: Blades of Greed. As mentioned, it also publishes annual sports titles and is on the cusp of publishing the full release of Greedfall 2.
The studio remains an active partner for an array of global developers, supporting many games to release. In fact, it’s even about to reveal more games for its roster, with the Nacon Connect showcase planned for 4 March set to reveal new and upcoming game announcements.
At this stage, it’s unclear whether the Nacon Connect showcase will go ahead.
It’s also unclear what happens next for the tenured publisher. With a court date in early March, we’ll likely hear much more about company plans, and whether it will be able to continue operation, in the near future.
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As shared by Ubisoft, the Assassin’s Creed leadership team will soon gain the expertise of Martin Schelling, Jean Guesdon and François de Billy, all of whom have played a key part in the growth of the series. Martin Schelling will be the Head of Assassin’s Creed Brand, with the Ubisoft announcement stating he will be responsible for ‘overall strategy and long-term vision of the brand’.
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