On May 7th, management at Cyanide announced to the workers at Cyanide-Nanterre that Cyanide-Bordeaux (more commonly known as Big Bad Wolf) would be closed. Big Bad Wolf workers were not invited to this meeting. Even worse, Cyanide’s management tried to forbid the attendees to tell about the news, even to their colleagues in Bordeaux. This willingness to leave workers in the dark goes along Cyanide’s refusal to invite some worker representatives at this meeting, only because they are workers at Big Bad Wolf — and coincidentally STJV representatives.

Without some workers in Nanterre whose solidarity was stronger than their management’s threats, Big Bad Wolf’s workers would have learned about their company closing in the newspapers. As we publish this press release, Cyanide’s management still hasn’t officially announced the planned layoffs to the workers in Bordeaux.

Cyanide’s central workers council (CSE) was then summoned to a meeting on May 11 so the company could present them with a layoffs plan which confirmed the destruction of all 46 jobs at Big Bad Wolf. This meeting should have taken place before the “announcement” to the workers in Nanterre, as worker representatives must, by law, be informed and consulted in priority on such procedures.

It is sadly a habit for video game companies to operate outside of the law, to trample on worker representatives and to keep workers in the dark. Our colleagues at Spiders and Kylotonn also experienced such attitude in similar situations. They have our full support and solidarity in this cruel moment.

Swan song

Big Bad Wolf’s closure was announced barely 3 weeks after the release of its last game: Cthulhu: The Cosmis Abyss. What a really sweet way to say thanks to the workers who managed to release the game on time, despite the release date being advanced in a rush by the company without consulting the workers.

The game’s production took barely 2 years, a really short duration considering Nacon’s ambitions for the game: releasing a AA budget game with the finish and rendering of a AAA one. For workers, it came at the price of their health, as they got exhausted by overtime which led to many sick leaves. No less than 20% of the studio’s workers went on sick leaves, for a total of 400 sick days prescribed by doctors.

These numbers were only met with indifference and cynism from Cyanide’s management. Between inaction and invitations to quit the company, Big Bad Wolf’s workers gritted their teeth. Now they are bout to be laid off.

« Nacon m’a tuer »

On top of Big Bad Wolf’s closure, Cyanide will layoff 4 workers in Cyanide-Nanterre. This layoff 50 workers adds up to Nacon Tech and Spiders’ liquidation, as well as to the massive layoffs taking place at Kylotonn. These are the direct consequences of the “redressement judiciaire” of the companies’ exclusive publisher and sole owner : Nacon. At the end, close to 200 people will suffer consequences from Nacon’s negligence.

Dark coincidence, the “announcement” came the same day Nacon Connect took place, where the Nacon group showed off its catalogue made by its soon-to-be-fired workers, and when everything in the company is burning.

Nacon and its studios’ collapse, some being more than 20 years old, marks a dark hour for the french video games industry. Whole parts of our craft are going to disappear : expertises in narrative games, racing games and RPG, and with those the jobs of hundreds of people. Hundreds of mistreated lifes and standstilled careers, in a difficult social context and a suffocating job market.

Big Bad Wolf’s workers’ council will assist employees at their best in the coming weeks, its representatives and our union need your support. Directors’ non-consideration, their cynism and brutality must burst the comfortable veil of entertainment. Those who build games suffer. They’re trampled on, the same way the games they strive to carry are. Support them, support us.

We encourage players to stop buying Big Bad Wolf’s games, their sales no longer paying the workers who built them. In general, we encourage you to enquire about who publishes the games you want to play, their news and the management of involved studios.

Most importantly : listen to and support the workers who dare speak out, through their unions, their strikes and their networks.

Solidarity is our weapon ✊