Spiders, the Parisian studio known for titles like Greedfall and Steelrising, has confirmed its imminent closure. The studio’s liquidation is effective immediately. This development was anticipated following reports by Origami, and is a consequence of its parent company, Nacon, seeking to sell the studio to address its own financial struggles.
Nacon, which had been placed under judicial administration in March due to economic problems, also initiated insolvency proceedings for Spiders, KT Racing, Cyanide, and Nacon Tech. To resolve its financial situation, Nacon attempted to sell Nacon Tech and Spiders, but failed to find a buyer before mid-April.
The situation at Spiders had been problematic for some time. Representatives from the studio had previously voiced concerns about the studio’s working conditions and the lack of clear direction regarding its creative and financial independence under Nacon’s ownership. The Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) had also been vocal for years about issues such as poor and opaque management, which reportedly worsened after Nacon’s acquisition in 2019. The union highlighted a lack of transparent communication from management regarding the studio’s relationship with Nacon and its financial viability.
These ongoing management issues, which may have led to project delays and shifts, likely contributed to Spiders being an unattractive acquisition, despite its past role in the resurgence of European AA gaming. Spiders, founded in 2008, initially worked closely with Focus Home Interactive on games like Mars: War Logs and Bound by Flame, as well as collaborating with other studios. Nacon acquired Spiders in 2019, the same year it purchased Cyanide.
English Translation
Spiders has confirmed its liquidation through a statement on Twitter, as previously anticipated by Origami. The closure is effective immediately.
The Parisian studio Spiders is set to close in the coming days, according to French outlet Origami. The developers behind Greedfall and Steelrising, owned by Nacon, appear to have not survived their parent company’s plans to sell the studio to resolve its financial issues, which led to Nacon being placed under judicial administration in March.
The same administrator overseeing Nacon’s proceedings also managed Spiders, KT Racing, Cyanide, and the Nacon Tech motion capture division, all of which declared insolvency and voluntarily sought intervention. To attempt to resolve its financial situation, Nacon put Nacon Tech and Spiders up for sale, hoping, unsuccessfully, to find a buyer before mid-April. With no buyer in sight, Spiders’ future appears to be decided.
The situation at Spiders has been problematic for some time. In “Silence on joue!”, the video game podcast from the newspaper Libération, a Spiders representative for the Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo spoke a few weeks ago about the studio’s situation, which had released GreedFall: The Dying World just days before Nacon was placed under administration. Their intention was for Spiders’ intervention to lead to “more sensible decisions” and for “work to be organized in such a way that we have the right to create good games and sell them,” explaining, “rights that we currently do not possess.”
The same STJV has been denouncing the problems the studio, employing around 70 people, was facing for years. These problems notably included deficient and opaque management, which worsened after its acquisition by Nacon in 2019. That purchase added “an extra layer of opacity to the company,” the union explained in the open letter it published in mid-2024—calling for a strike that took place in early September of that year—exacerbated by management’s refusal to provide “reliable information” about the relationship between the studio and Nacon. “Faced with the slightest expression of concern about the economic viability or creative freedom of Spiders,” the letter reads, “we are told that ‘everything is covered in the contracts'” signed between the studio and its owner, “without even giving workers the opportunity to verify it.”
The tension within the studio and management issues (which led to public and internal delays and changes of direction in all its recent projects) have likely not helped make Spiders an attractive acquisition, despite its past role in a revival of European AA gaming, in which companies like Focus and Nacon played significant roles. It has been these two companies that have shaped the history of Spiders, which since its foundation in 2008 worked closely with Focus to release games like Mars: War Logs or Bound by Flame, as well as co-developments and collaborations with other studios, such as Frogwares or Cyanide. Nacon ultimately bought the studio in 2019, a year after having precisely bought Cyanide. The rest is history.
