Nexon says The First Berserker: Khazan team was reorganized, not laid off

Nexon says Neople has reorganized the team behind The First Berserker: Khazan as the game heads into its final development stretch, and that the move did not involve layoffs. The company described it as a shift in staffing rather than a shutdown or cuts.

According to PC Gamer’s report, a Nexon representative said Neople is reallocating talent across current and upcoming projects, including Dungeon & Fighter games aimed at global markets. Nexon also said the change is meant to support live service work and future projects across Neople and other Nexon teams.

The statement follows earlier reporting that framed the move as a response to weak sales. Yonhap News had reported that disappointing performance played a role, with GamesRadar later picking up that report. Nexon hasn’t directly backed that version, but it has previously acknowledged that Khazan underperformed its internal revenue outlook.

That said, the company hasn’t written the game off. At a capital markets briefing last month, Nexon CEO Junghun Lee said the company was preparing for Khazan’s China launch and argued that release would help test the game’s long-term potential. Yonhap’s report claimed that delay hurt sales.

Nexon struck a similar tone on an earlier earnings call, where it said first-quarter revenue came in below expectations but still called the game an important first step in its broader plan to bring the Dungeon & Fighter IP to a wider global audience.

So for now, the clearest takeaway is pretty simple: Neople’s Khazan team has been reshuffled as development winds down, and Nexon says those changes were not layoffs.