Tag: UK Games Industry

Supermassive Games has announced plans for another significant round of redundancies, with up to 75 employees potentially affected. The Guildford-based developer, best known for cinematic horror games including Until Dawn, The Quarry and The Dark Pictures Anthology, confirmed on 11 August that it had started a formal redundancy consultation process. In its statement, the studio described the move as a “necessary step to help ensure the sustainability of the company”. It added that supporting the people affected would be its priority throughout the process. The wording matters. The consultation could result in as many as 75 job losses, but the final number has not yet been confirmed. The latest in a series of cuts This is the third publicly reported redundancy process at Supermassive Games in less than three years. In February 2024, around 90 members of staff were reported to be at risk as part of a reorganisation. A further 36 roles were cut in July 2025, when the studio said it needed to adapt its team structure to a difficult and changing games market. That second round coincided with the delay of Directive 8020. Originally scheduled for October 2025, the science-fiction horror title was eventually released in May 2026. It was the fifth game associated with The Dark Pictures series and the first of those titles to be self-published by Supermassive rather than Bandai Namco. The new consultation also follows a change at the top of the company. Robert Henrysson, who became chief executive in 2024, stepped down in June 2026. Supermassive has not said that the latest proposed redundancies are the result of any single game, nor has it identified which teams or disciplines may be affected. It would therefore be premature to attribute the decision directly to the commercial or critical performance of Directive 8020. A studio with a distinctive legacy Founded in 2008, Supermassive Games established its reputation with Until Dawn, the 2015 PlayStation horror title whose branching story allowed any member of its ensemble cast to live or die. The game helped the studio carve out a distinctive place in the market for accessible, choice-driven horror. It later expanded that approach through The Dark Pictures Anthology, beginning with Man of Medan in 2019, as well as standalone projects such as The Quarry. The studio also developed Little Nightmares III for Bandai Namco. Its games occupy an unusual space between film and conventional adventure games, combining performance capture, branching narratives and shared “movie night” play. That identity has earned Supermassive a committed audience, even as individual releases have received varied responses. What happens next? For now, the consultation process will determine how many jobs are ultimately lost. Supermassive has not announced any associated project cancellations or changes to its future release plans. The immediate story is therefore not speculation about the studio’s catalogue, but the impact on the developers whose roles are at risk. After several years of widespread job losses across the games business, the proposed cuts are another difficult moment for the UK development community—and for a studio that has spent more than a decade defining its own branch of interactive horror. Sources VGC: Supermassive Games is laying off up to 75 staffGame Developer: Supermassive’s 2025 redundancies and Directive 8020 delayPC Gamer: Supermassive’s 2024 redundancy process