Nerial shuts down after 13 years

Reigns series and Card Shark developer Nerial will shut down after 13 years of operation, the studio announced.

The studio, which Devolver Digital acquired in 2021, most recently released Reigns: The Witcher in collaboration with CD Projekt RED on February 25.

Here is the full announcement from Nerial husbands-and-wife founders Francois and Tamara Alliot:

Oh no, another one of those studio announcements with text on a somber background color?

Unfortunately, yes, another one. Nerial is entering hibernation mode. After 13 years and 11 published games, we have decided together with our partners at Devolver to end development at the studio.

It’s been an incredible adventure. We came into this with no expectations or ambitions and we will never forget the utter puzzlement of releasing Reigns in 2016 to so many players, the fascinating and slightly disturbing Card Shark fan art players are still sending us, the thrill of Reigns expanding with adaptations of Game of Thrones, Animal Farm, Three Kingdoms and the latest, Reigns: The Witcher. Not forgetting our most ambitious project, The Crush House, which we remain immensely proud of.

The fabulous Nerial team will now seek new opportunities and we wholeheartedly recommend each and every one to any potential studios that will be lucky enough to have them. We also want to thank the many amazing people we’ve teamed up with, both inside the studio, at Devolver, and through ad hoc collaborations. Each of our projects was only possible through such impossible, fleeting conjunctions of talent and passion.

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’ 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, before coming back with a new perspective.

—Tamara and Francois