Cyanide

Cyanide Studio is a French video game developer founded in 2000 by seven former Ubisoft employees in Nanterre, near Paris. The studio built its reputation across more than 50 games spanning cycling simulations, fantasy sports, stealth action, and licensed adaptations of tabletop games and fiction. Acquired by Nacon in May 2018 for €20 million, Cyanide was declared insolvent in early 2026 following Nacon’s bankruptcy, along with fellow Nacon studios Spiders and Kylotonn.

Origins and the Pro Cycling Manager Series

Cyanide was founded by Patrick Pligersdorffer and six colleagues who left Ubisoft to make the cycling management game they had always wanted to build. The result was Cycling Manager in 2000, which sold well enough to spawn an annual series. Pro Cycling Manager became one of the most consistently released simulation franchises in PC gaming, with a new entry arriving almost every year for over two decades alongside the console-focused Tour de France series. The cycling games were never mainstream hits but built a loyal audience and gave the studio the financial foundation to expand into other genres.

Blood Bowl and Games Workshop Adaptations

Cyanide’s most significant departure from sports simulation was Blood Bowl, the video game adaptation of Games Workshop’s fantasy football board game. Blood Bowl released in 2009 and proved the studio could translate a beloved tabletop property into a viable game without losing what made the original work. Blood Bowl 2 followed in 2015 and Blood Bowl 3 in 2023. Cyanide also adapted Games Workshop’s Space Hulk into Space Hulk: Tactics in 2018, a tactical game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The relationship with Games Workshop’s intellectual properties became a reliable creative lane for the studio alongside its sports output.

The Styx Series and Call of Cthulhu

Styx: Master of Shadows in 2014 introduced a new stealth franchise built around a goblin assassin navigating fantasy environments. It received strong reviews and spawned a sequel, Styx: Shards of Darkness, in 2017. A third entry, Styx: Blades of Greed, released on February 19, 2026, becoming the studio’s final release before the insolvency proceedings began. Call of Cthulhu, released in October 2018 and published by Focus Home Interactive, was an investigation-focused horror game built on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. It received mixed reviews but found a dedicated audience and remains the studio’s most internationally recognized single game. This game deserved a sequel and one was even announced. Call of Cthulhu: Tainted Legacy was ultimately canceled though, which sucks because a third person game in the same world sounds pretty cool.

Nacon Acquisition and Insolvency

Nacon, then operating as Bigben Interactive, acquired Cyanide in May 2018 for €20 million. The deal brought Cyanide under a publisher with broader distribution reach and additional development resources. Nacon rebranded in 2020 and continued acquiring studios aggressively through the early 2020s. A series of commercial disappointments across the portfolio put the parent company under severe financial strain. In early 2026, Nacon declared bankruptcy. Cyanide, along with fellow Nacon studios Spiders and Kylotonn, was subsequently declared insolvent. The studio’s future at the time of writing is uncertain, with restructuring proceedings underway.