Particularly known for its racing games, Kylotonn was placed in receivership on March 30 alongside two other studios, Cyanide and Spiders, following in the footsteps of their parent company, the French publisher Nacon.
The management of the Parisian video game studio Kylotonn plans to cut two thirds of the company’s workforce, which was placed in receivership at the end of March, a union representative announced to AFP on Wednesday. “The management of Kylotonn, with the assistance of the judicial administrators, plans to eliminate 84 positions”leaving “38 people who would work until the certain death of the company”indicated at the end of a CSE Naomi Heinis, delegate of the Video Game Workers Union (STJV) within the studio. The vast majority of these departures will be forced, she said.
Particularly known for its racing games, Kylotonn was placed in receivership on March 30 alongside two other studios, Cyanide and Spiders, following in the footsteps of their parent company, the French publisher Nacon. Spiders has since been placed in compulsory liquidation, leading to the dismissal of 71 employees, while Midgar Studio, another property of Nacon, is looking for a buyer. “It is planned to release EMS (“Endurance Motorsport Series†, editor’s note) as soon as possible” in order to be able to “lay off the workforce from this project as soon as possibleâ€continued the union representative, specifying that “Nothing is planned” for the future of the game «Test Drive Unlimited», “except maintenance”.
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Cessation of payments
The STJV called on studio employees to continue the strike, which began on May 7, until Friday. Contacted by AFP, Nacon management did not respond immediately. Based in Lesquin (North), Nacon, which brings together 16 development studios, announced that it was insolvent in February and then was placed in receivership on March 3.
The difficulties of Nacon, the third French publisher behind Ubisoft and Pullup, are linked to those of its parent company, BigBen Interactive, known for its accessories intended for video games. Unable to repay a loan of around 43 million euros, BigBen was forced to open a conciliation procedure with its creditors in March, plunging its subsidiary into turmoil. The video games sector, which employs some 12,000 employees in France, has already been marked in recent months by the difficult financial situation of the giant Ubisoft.
