Nerial, the London studio behind the Reigns series and Card Shark, is shutting its doors after 13 years and entering what founders Tamara and François Alliot call "hibernation mode." The couple announced the mutual decision with parent company Devolver Digital on social media, ending active development following the release of Reigns: The Witcher. Devolver keeps the catalog; the nine-person team, including the founders, is now seeking new opportunities.

The closure follows two straight years of heavy losses. A Companies House filing shows Nerial lost nearly £1 million in 2024 and over £800,000 in 2025, becoming dependent on Devolver support. Devolver had already cut 40 percent of the studio's staff in April 2025 to "address issues around recent releases." François Alliot told Kotaku the acquisition brought second-guessing and a loss of pure indie focus, pushing the founders back toward their roots after a needed break.

Staff recommendations came with the announcement, naming narrative designer Oscar Harrington-Shaw, art director Helen O'Dell, lead programmer Neil Goodman, and others for future hires. The Alliots thanked Devolver collaborators and external partners while stressing the studio's 11 published games and the "fascinating and slightly disturbing" Card Shark fan art that still arrives. The final chapter closes the book on a small team that punched above its weight for more than a decade.

The industry context is familiar: post-COVID contraction, AI hype sucking resources, and publishers tightening belts after going public then privatizing again. Nerial's exit is another data point in a sector where even profitable indies with hit franchises can still bleed red ink once overhead and expectations scale up.