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Nexon confirms reorganizaton at The First Berserker: Khazan developer but says it's merely 'a strategic reallocation of talent' as development winds down
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Nexon has confirmed that it has "reorganized" the teams at The First Berserker: Khazan developer Neople, but says the changes were made not because of issues with the game's performance, but simply "to allocate resources more effectively" across ongoing projects.
The reshuffling at Neople was first reported by Korean agency Yonhap (via GamesRadar), which said (Google translated) a large number of staff on The First Berserker: Khazan had been reassigned "due to poor performance." The game had a strong launch, and currently holds a "very positive" rating on Steam across nearly 20,000 user reviews, but the report claims that sales subsequently tailed off and failed to meet expectations.
In a statement provided to PC Gamer, however, a Nexon representative said the change was made simply because, as a standalone singleplayer game, The First Berserker: Khazan is pretty much finished, and so they're wrapping things up.
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"The First Berserker: Khazan is the first of three games designed to introduce our Dungeon & Fighter to a global audience," the rep said. "The game got off to a solid launch with good critical scores in Western Markets on both PC and console.
"As the development roadmap for The First Berserker: Khazan enters its final stage, Neople has reorganized its teams to allocate resources more effectively across current and upcoming projects, including Dungeon & Fighter franchise games for global markets. This adjustment is a strategic reallocation of talent, not a workforce reduction or team dissolution, supporting live service operations and future initiatives across Neople and Nexon affiliates."
The rep confirmed that employees have not been laid off as a result of the change, just moved to new things.
Dungeon & Fighter, known outside of South Korea as Dungeon Fighter Online and abbreviated as DNF, debuted in 2005 and has spawned several sequels, including The First Berserker: Khazan, which takes place 800 years before the events of DNF. It's a big thing for Nexon, and it clearly has big plans for it.
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So it's not great news for The First Berserker: Khazan fans holding out hope for future DLC or expansions, but frankly I'm happy enough that developers were put onto new work instead of just being laid off. And despite missing sales targets, with two more DNF games in the works. I think there's also a real possibility of a Khazan sequel: If Nexon is determined to make it a global franchise, a follow-up to a recognizable and well-reviewed game would certainly not be the worst way to go about it.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
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