Video games serve a wide variety of roles for players: from stress relief and storytelling to serving as an actual test of skill. For many, games offer more than just entertainment; they challenge one’s wit, reflexes, and even pride. Interestingly, pride become a focal talking point for Neople, the studio behind the Soulslike action RPG The First Berserker: Khazan.
In June 2025, Neople shared a revealing insight about player behaviour in a developer update that recently caught the attention of Eurogamer, bringing the discussion back into the spotlight. The topic? Why so many players refuse to lower the difficulty level in The First Berserker: Khazan, even when they’re clearly struggling.
According to internal data gathered by the team, a significant number of players chose to quit the game entirely rather than switch to the Easy difficulty setting, which had been available since the game’s launch. When Neople probed deeper into the issue, they found that many players perceived selecting that as a blow to their pride.
The Impact of Difficulty in The First Berserker: Khazan
What’s more fascinating is the psychological nuance uncovered: players reported they wouldn’t feel the same sense of shame if the standard difficulty was labelled as Hard, and the lower one was renamed Normal. This surprising feedback led to a significant change in how the game’s difficulty options are presented.
In response, Neople rebranded the difficulty settings in The First Berserker: Khazan. What was Easy mode became Normal, while the old Normal mode was renamed to Challenge. This subtle shift is intended to help players feel more confident in selecting a lower difficulty without feeling as though they’re compromising their gamer pride.
Additionally, in the June 2025 update, Neople introduced two new difficulty levels: Beginner for players who still struggle, and Hardcore for those seeking the ultimate test of skill. These changes reflect the studio’s commitment to balancing accessibility with the pride and challenge that hardcore players desire, and more options for us to choose from without giving up on our pride.
