French RPG developer Midgar Studio to shut down

Midgar Studio, the French developer known for Japanese-inspired RPGs Edge of Eternity and the upcoming Edge of Memories, has been ordered to be liquidated by a French court. The announcement comes from a post on LinkedIn by Jérémy Zeler-Maury, founder and former CEO of Midgar Studio, now Nacon CTO.

The news comes mere months after Spiders — another French RPG studio under publisher Nacon — shut down in April. Nacon, the French publisher who acquired Midgar Studio in 2022, filed for insolvency in February. Several Nacon subsidiaries, including Spiders, Kylotonn, and Cyanide, followed suit in filing for insolvency in March.

According to Zeler-Maury's post, Nacon hoped to find an acquirer for Midgar Studio, but was unable to do so in the proper timeframe.

As for the unreleased Edge of Memories, the game's official Twitter account said in early July that "Edge of Memories is safe, planned for release later this year!". It seems likely that Nacon will complete publishing duties on the game despite the fate of Midgar Studio.

The studio closure announcement post in full from Zeler-Maury can be found below.

Today, Midgar Studio comes to an end.

This is not the message I had hoped to write.

I had hoped to come back here and announce that we had found an acquirer. Unfortunately, the court has now ordered the liquidation of Midgar Studio.

Over the past few weeks, we worked until the very end to find a solution that could preserve both the company and the team. 

Despite every avenue explored and everyone who tried to help us, no solution could be completed within the timeframe of the process.

I founded Midgar in 2008, driven by the desire to create games that felt like us, at the crossroads of French and Japanese sensibilities.

What began as a slightly crazy idea became eighteen years of work, creation, challenges, encounters and memories.

Midgar is the work we accomplished on Hover, Edge of Eternity, Edge of Memories, and all the projects, prototypes, ideas and worlds that passed through the studio.

But above all, Midgar is the people who brought our games to life, and everyone who contributed to this journey.

To everyone who worked at Midgar, whether today or at any point over these eighteen years: thank you.

You turned a vision into something real. You held on through the difficult moments, celebrated the victories, learned from our mistakes, and gave the studio its identity.

Thank you as well to our partners who trusted us, and to the players who discovered our games, supported us, encouraged us, challenged us, and sometimes defended us with incredible loyalty.

Today, my thoughts are especially with the members of the team.

The company is closing, but their talent, experience and value remain intact. To the studios, publishers and recruiters reading this: this team deserves your attention. Please reach out to them.

Midgar has been an enormous part of my life. Saying goodbye is incredibly difficult.

But this ending does not erase anything we built. I am proud of the games we created, proud of the identity we defended, and above all proud of every person I had the chance to share this journey with.

Midgar Studio ends here, but what we created will live on in our games, in our memories, and in everything each of us builds next.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being part of this story.