Neople, the Nexon subsidiary behind The First Berserker: Khazan, has announced an internal restructuring of its development teams, according to GamesIndustry.biz. The studio confirmed no layoffs resulted from the reorganisation, which is notable given how often these announcements have come attached to job cuts across the industry recently.
The restructuring coincides with Khazan entering what Neople describes as its "final stage" - language that suggests the game's active development cycle is wrapping up. Whether that means post-launch support is winding down or the team is pivoting toward something new isn't yet clear, but the timing raises the obvious question of what comes next for the studio.
A solid soulslike that found its audience
The First Berserker: Khazan launched earlier this year to a reasonably warm reception from the soulslike community. The game carved out its own identity within the crowded action RPG space, leaning hard into its hack-and-slash DNA while borrowing freely from the genre's demanding combat design philosophy. It's a spin-off of Neople's long-running Dungeon Fighter Online universe, bringing that IP to a more cinematic, single-player format for the first time.
The fact that Neople kept its full headcount intact during this restructure is genuinely good news - studio reorganisations in the post-release window have become a flashpoint in recent years, with developers frequently facing cuts once a project ships. The studio framing this purely as a team reorganisation rather than a downsizing suggests a degree of stability that not every developer enjoys after a game's release cycle matures.
What's next for Neople?
Neople hasn't announced a follow-up project or any new direction for the studio, so this restructure reads more like an internal reset than a public pivot. Developers often shift resources and team structures between projects without making noise about it, but the public statement here is likely intended to get ahead of any speculation - particularly given how sensitive the industry climate is around studio news right now.
For players still engaged with Khazan, the "final stage" framing is worth watching. It likely signals that major content updates or DLC aren't on the roadmap, though Neople hasn't confirmed that either way. Whether the studio's next project stays within the Dungeon Fighter universe or breaks new ground entirely remains to be seen.
