Supermassive Games announces third round of layoffs in three years, up to 75 affected
The Guildford-based studio behind Until Dawn and Directive 8020 cites sustainability concerns in its latest workforce reduction.
Conversation activity · last 39 hours peak 15/hr
Latest coverage newest 6 of 20 items
Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 33 items across 4 sources · 1d ago. Quotes are verbatim.
What to know
- Third layoff in three years: Supermassive Games cut 90 employees in Feb 2024, 36 in July 2025, and now up to 75 in Aug 2026.
- Sustainability cited as reason: Studio attributes cuts to need to adapt team structure amid challenging industry conditions.
- Recent game underperformed: Directive 8020 received mixed reviews and sold only ~447,000 units, raising questions about creative direction.
- Community unsurprised: Reddit discussions indicate poor reception of recent releases made layoffs predictable.
How it unfolded
-
Reddit users note the layoffs are unsurprising given recent releases' poor critical and commercial performance.
“Their recent releases have had extremely poor reception.”
two_pandas_playing · r/gaming ↗ -
Reddit commenters discuss the mechanics of redundancy consultations, comparing voluntary versus involuntary redundancy payouts based on tenure.
“You have voluntary redundancy and involuntary, idk what exactly you get for involuntary redundancy but for voluntary you get paid proportional to how long you've worked there.”
Unimportant-1551 · r/gaming ↗ -
Supermassive Games announces up to 75 positions will be affected in a consultation process, marking the third workforce reduction in three years.
“We know this will be an incredibly difficult time for everyone, and our priority throughout the process will be to provide support to all those impacted.”
Supermassive Games · Google News ↗ - 15 weeks quiet
-
Event Directive 8020 release and reception
Directive 8020 launches and receives mixed reviews, selling approximately 447,000 units across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox.
- 43 weeks quiet
-
Event Second round of layoffs and game delay
The developer cuts 36 roles and postpones horror title Directive 8020 from October 2025 to May 2026, citing need to adapt team structure to industry changes.
- 74 weeks quiet
-
Event First round of layoffs
Supermassive Games conducts first major layoff, affecting approximately 90 employees. Studio attributes cuts to industry facing significant challenges.
What people are saying verbatim
“We know this will be an incredibly difficult time for everyone, and our priority throughout the process will be to provide support to all those impacted.”
Supermassive Games, Studio statement · GamesIndustry.biz ↗
“We're committed to focusing our efforts on our core strengths and upcoming titles to ensure the continued sustainability of the company.”
Supermassive Games, Studio statement · GamesIndustry.biz ↗
“Can't say I'm shocked. They hadn't put out anything that I've seen anyone interested in since 2022.”
Odd-eyes-Draggo, reddit commenter · reddit ↗
“Their recent releases have had extremely poor reception.”
two_pandas_playing, reddit commenter · reddit ↗
“You have voluntary redundancy and involuntary, idk what exactly you get for involuntary redundancy but for voluntary you get paid proportional to how long you've worked there.”
Unimportant-1551, reddit commenter · reddit ↗
Voices from the web unedited
-
Basically, they are figuring out what jobs they will give redundancy to/how many and how to determine who can take it. You have voluntary redundancy and involuntary, idk what exactly you get for involuntary redundancy but for voluntary you get paid proportional to how long you’ve worked there. My job recently has had a lot of redundancies go…
-
FullCleared just posted: Supermassive Games Begins Layoffs of Up to 75 Staff The studio behind Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology is cutting staff again, with Supermassive Games announcing today that it has started a redundancy consultation process expected to result in the loss of up ... https:// fullcleared.com/news/supermass…
-
They're not closing. According to Wikipedia they had 350 employees in 2023, could be even more now. Seems they had a strategy of working on several games at the same time and it didn't work as their games are not too popular or critically acclaimed. If they lose 75 devs they'll still have 250+ devs thats more that many other successful studios.
-
Gematsu just posted: Supermassive Games to lay off up to 75 employees The Dark Pictures series and Little Nightmares III developer Supermassive Games will lay off up … https://www. gematsu.com/2026/08/supermassi ve-games-to-lay-off-up-to-75-employees # gamingNews # Gematsu
-
Why in the world would Transistor need a remaster? A "modern" version would just be the exact same game. I swear people these days are allergic to games made before 2020, even if a "modern" version would be identical and they're already perfectly playable and look great.
-
I haven't seen a single post saying they "deserved it", but it is certainly not surprising. Their recent releases have had extremely poor reception.
-
Waiting for the inevitable article about how the CEO gets millions in bonuses shortly after this "sustainability measure"
-
Can't say I'm shocked. They hadn't put out anything that I've seen anyone interested in since 2022.
-
I thought it was super giant and wondered how they had 75 people to lay off in the first place.
-
75 employees’ time is running out after the company decided to do a big freeze on all spending