Nerial, the studio behind Reigns, The Crush House and Card Shark, announced today that it is entering hibernation mode and ending development, effectively shutting down and leaving its staff seeking new jobs. The studio joins an ever-growing list of game developers who are shutting down thanks to money troubles and an increasingly more difficult market.
The studio announced the closure in a social media post — noting that it was “another one of those studio announcements with text on a somber background color.” Founders Francois and Tamara Alliot thanked the studio’s partners, including Devolver Digital (with the former also telling Kotaku that the publisher will retain the rights to Nerial’s games).
While the announcement itself doesn’t specify why Nerial is shutting down, but journalist Chris Kerr unearthed a recent fiscal report prepared on a going concern basis. The company incurred six-figure loss in 2025 due to “significant trading losses” and was only getting by with financial help from Devolver. The report said, “The directors have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue to in operational existence for at least twelve months.”
In the announcement, they added, “While this marks the end of Nerial as we know it, it’s not the end of game dev for us. We’re going back to our roots. Francois’s unrelenting drive to make games is as strong as ever, but first we need to take a break and reflect on everything that’s happened.”