French studio Dontnod, the developer of games including Life is Strange, Vampyr, and Tell Me Why, has a new name, sort of. To celebrate its 14th anniversary, the studio has announced that it is now officially known as Don't Nod.
You may notice that it's actually the same name, but properly spelled and punctuated. That's because it's not so much a renaming as a "new visual identity."
"We are reintroducing the apostrophe and the space between the words to truly embrace the meaning of Don't Nod," the studio explained. "Don't Nod is two words to represent our tendency to be non-conventional as a company and in the games that we create—as in, we Don't Nod along to everyone else’s tune. The D is shattered, and the N appears within it, signifying that we are not afraid to break the mold. This new logo links our games—meaningful, powerful stories—with who we are as a company.'
There's even a video showcasing the new logo in a variety of visuals contexts:
I'm not a big logo guy, so maybe there's a subtle marketing significance here that's going over my head, but I can't say the change really rings my bell. Dontnod was a weird name but at least it worked as a palindrome, which is kind of cool. Don't Nod, on the other hand, just makes me think of long-ago teachers yelling at me to stop falling asleep in class. Maybe the connotation is different in France but that doesn't strike me as ideal imagery for a videogame developer.
A more practical aspect of Don't Nod's anniversary celebration can be found on Steam, where the studio is giving away Tell Me Why, an episodic narrative adventure about twins living in Alaska. It's free for keeps until July 1.
