Racing Studio Nacon Finds the Wall Due to Financial Turmoil

The ongoing debt issues with Nacon's parent company have gravely affected the company, leading to it ceasing trading shares on the market.

Nacon is primarily known for manufacturing video game peripherals, including controllers and PC accessories. The company also owns smaller video game developers and has published titles, including numerous racing titles, such as the WRC series, as well as the infamously bad The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.

Nacon itself is owned by Bigben Interactive, and that company's woes have trickled down. According to Traxion, Nacon has temporarily suspended trading of its shares, as the company needs to quickly restructure to continue operating.

So, what's happening with Nacon? Bigben Interactive, the company's majority shareholder, has struggled to pay a 43 million euro debt to bondholders. As such, Bigben Interactive and Nacon have temporarily suspended trading in their shares on Euronext Paris and their bonds on the Euronext Access Paris marketplace.

What does all this mean for Nacon? Bigben Interactive needs to either pay off its debts or come up with a repayment plan, and the company has outlined several options for doing this, including court proceedings.

"In light of this situation, the Company is considering requesting a deferral of the Partial Repayment due date from the Bondholders," Bigben said in an official news post. "The Company is also examining the possibility of resorting to procedures designed to facilitate the restructuring of its debt under the supervision of the commercial court."

Ceasing trading shares is a horrendously bad sign, and can often (but not always) lead to bankruptcy. There's a good chance this could lead to an acquisition or a complete shutdown of operations, which would be catastrophically bad for all the studios owned by Nacon and Bigben. In its own statement, Nacon has said that more information will be released in the coming days, when, hopefully, the suspension ends.