Reigns Maker Nerial Stops Studio Operations After Two Years of Losses

Nerial, the British developer behind the Reigns series and Card Shark, announced on its official Bluesky account on October 1, 2026, that it is stopping the studio’s activity, and used a follow-up thread to recommend five affected team members to prospective employers. The Brighton-registered studio, part of the Devolver Digital group, had documented two consecutive years of significant trading losses in its Companies House accounts.

The announcement was posted at 13:04 UTC in the form of a statement image attached to a short post. The statement read: “Unfortunately, another one of those announcements with text on a somber background color. We’re stopping the activity of our studio, Nerial.”

In the follow-up thread, the studio named the team members it described as most affected and put each forward for new roles. Oscar, the studio wrote, is a writer and narrative designer experienced across both original projects and established licensed IP. Neil Bull worked on all of the studio’s recent games, handling polish and managing workflows and external QA testing. AJ Kerr is a project manager and producer credited with keeping complex projects coordinated. Neil Goodman served as lead developer on Card Shark and The Crush House, taking ownership of core systems including UI, localisation and save systems. Gordon Speirs built the 3D gameplay framework of The Crush House and later led development on Reigns: The Witcher.

The Studio and Its Owner

Nerial’s official website lists a catalogue spanning Reigns, Reigns: Her Majesty, Reigns: Game of Thrones, Reigns 3K, Reigns Beyond, Card Shark and The Crush House, with Reigns: The Witcher available on mobile platforms and PC. Nerial Ltd is registered in England and Wales under company number 10103578, with a registered office at Preston Park House, South Road, Brighton, and its accounts describe its principal activity as that of a video game developer.

Companies House filings show control of the company changed hands on April 29, 2021, when François Alliot and Arnaud De Bock ceased to be persons with significant control and, together with Camille Guyot, ceased to be directors. Graeme Struthers and Douglas Morin were appointed as directors on the same day, and a new statement of control was notified to the register the following month.

Both the 2024 and 2025 accounts identify the ultimate controlling party as Devolver Digital Inc, a company registered in the United States. The 2025 accounts state that Nerial is part of the Devolver Digital group and continues to benefit from financial and operational support from the group.

The board changed further in later filings. Douglas Morin resigned as a director on January 31, 2024, and Brian Chadwick was appointed on June 1, 2024. Graeme Struthers ceased to be a director on March 20, 2026, leaving T Alliot and B P Chadwick as the directors named in the 2025 accounts.

Two Consecutive Years of Trading Losses

The 2025 accounts, covering the year ended December 31, 2025, record a loss after taxation of £817,375 on turnover of £294,453, with an operating loss of £1,017,697. In their report, the directors described the year as “the second consecutive year of significant trading losses” and said the company remains dependent upon continued financial support from its parent undertaking and the successful execution of future trading plans.

The 2024 accounts record a loss of £989,185 for that year, against a profit of £645,882 in 2023, on turnover of £933,300 compared with £1,751,784 in 2023. The 2024 result included an £835,406 impairment of capitalised development costs, and a further £49,753 impairment was recorded in 2025.

Net assets stood at £2,620,024 at December 31, 2025, compared with £3,437,399 a year earlier, and the company was owed £1,551,411 by fellow group undertakings. Average headcount across the two sets of accounts was 14 in 2023, 15 in 2024 and 14 in 2025, including three directors in each year.

The 2025 accounts were nonetheless prepared on a going concern basis. The directors said they had reviewed detailed forecasts and budgets demonstrating that the company was expected to have sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations as they fell due, and that they held a reasonable expectation of adequate resources for at least twelve months from the accounts’ approval, citing the parent undertaking’s continued commitment to support the company’s operations. Auditor Feist Hedgethorne Limited concluded that the use of the going concern basis was appropriate and reported no material uncertainties casting significant doubt on it.

Restructuring Disclosed Before the Announcement

In a note on events after the reporting period, the directors recorded that ultimate parent Devolver Digital Inc had announced plans to delist from the stock exchange and return to private ownership, with the delisting expected on or around September 2026. The same note states that, as part of the wider restructuring of the group, the employees of Nerial Limited were expected to be made redundant during September 2026.

The 2025 accounts were approved by the board on August 25, 2026, and filed at Companies House on September 15, 2026. The studio’s public announcement followed on October 1, 2026.

The note adds that Nerial Limited was expected to remain in existence following the restructuring, although its future activities and structure had not yet been finalised, and that the directors continue to assess the impact of these developments on the company.