Greedfall and Steelrising maker Spiders having to close its doors after its parent company Nacon reportedly failed to find a buyer for the studio can seem like just a really unfortunate breakdown for the French studios from an external view when looking at the last few months. But that's not the case, at least according to French union Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV), who claim that the shutdown has less to do with the recent insolvency filings and more to do with alleged willful mismanagement.
"Spiders' liquidation has been ordered on April 29. In a few weeks, the studio will cease to exist. 71 workers will see their job, their career, and their income slashed by what we consider incompetence and malice on Spiders' and Nacon's part," the union's statement begins. "Officially, the liquidation is caused by Spiders not making enough profit and the absence of takeover offer. In reality, it appears to us that it is the result of a deliberate process on Nacon's part."
The union then goes on to claim that Nacon prevented Spiders from having any legitimate avenues towards agency under Nacon's umbrella since being acquired in 2019. "Spiders was an empty shell, its role reduce to being a department inside Nacon, but organized in such a way that it could be taken out at the whim of Nacon's executives."
That, is instead, what STJV says happened with the choice to shut down the studio, suggesting that the decision to shutter Spiders was made months ago when Nacon leadership chose to cancel projects the studio was working on and how the process of signing a new contract with Nacon was allegedly delayed by the publisher. STJV also alleges that Nacon kept Spiders from signing contracts with other publishers, as if to ensure that Spiders had no off-ramp from its closure.
"Even after it was put under judicial reorganization, Nacon could have signed a contract with Spiders. The administrators confirmed that Nacon never expressed any intention to sign a contract to continue Spiders' activity, and therefore that it never wished to save the company. In general, the management at Spiders and Nacon managed the studio carelessly. They notably ignored the many alerts on the company's economical situation, strategy and management made by worker representatives, who gave numerous negative reports during the yearly mandatory consultations."
"In our opinion, all of this shows that the liquidation is a premediated and deliberate choice by Nacon's management."
The union then goes on to talk about how the loss of Spiders will impact video game development in France, since the country has now lost one of its oldest studios since its founding in 2008. It laments that the studio's last canceled project, Mist, will never see the light of day, and that the studio's workers are getting put out of work after only receiving "paltry" salaries. It's at this point that the union calls for a full boycott of Nacon published games.
"We refuse to see the group responsible for Spiders' abrupt end pillaging the still-warm body of our jobs. Although we hope that our games will still be enjoyed, we would like players to avoid giving their money to Nacon, as it would reward the group for its actions."
"Despite the industry's deafening silence on the collapse of the second biggest video games employer in France, the fight will continue after Spiders' death. We will do everything in our power to ensure Spiders' and Nacon's malice and mismanagement, which appear to be premediated, from going unpunished." The STJV concludes by adding it lends support to Spiders' workers, other developers at Nacon's other subsidiaries who "haven't yet endured all the consequences of Nacon's reorganization," and "all video game workers" who are fighting to survive in the industry.
This is not the first time that workers at Spiders represented by the STJV have spoken out against leadership. Back in August 2024, members of the Spiders' team penned an open letter and went on strike to call out leadership for establishing a poor culture at the studio and denying that there were any problems in the first place.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
