Following through on their warning, Until Dawn and Directive 8020 devs Supermassive lay off "more than 70" staff

"Any studio would be lucky to have them"

Horror game makers Supermassive Games, the studio behind Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology, have followed through on plans to lay off staff not long after the launch of Directive 8020.

In August, Supermassive put out a statement signalling the beginning of redundancy consultations they anticipated would see up to 75 of their staff let go. A need "to help ensure the sustainability of the company" was cited as the reason for these drastic measures.

Now, the axe has fallen. A few weeks ago I posted that my role at Supermassive Games was at risk," Supermassive veteran Frank Tindle wrote on LinkedIn, as spotted by Insider Gaming. "Today it's official. My last day. Sixteen years. I joined in 2010 as the IT department, all of it, and I leave as IT and facilities director and a member of the senior leadership team. In between, the studio grew from a handful of us to more than 400 people. What I'm proudest of, though, is the people. Past and present, sixteen years of the best people I've worked with.

"And it isn't just me leaving today. More than 70 brilliant people are leaving Supermassive: developers, artists, producers, QA, operations and more. Any studio would be lucky to have them. If you're hiring, DM me and I'll make the introduction."

Supermassive talent acquisition leader Tim Browning also posted about his departure. "I joined in September 2022 to recruit some people," he wrote. "Somehow, that turned into quite the story! We hired a lot of people. Like... a lot of people. Stood on stages, won awards, launched games and went to some brilliant events!"

The studio's latest game, Dark Pictures entry Directive 8020 launched in May to fairly mixed reviews. Just last week, Supemassive announced plans to add online multiplayer to it at some point this month.

Solidarity to all of the Supermassive staff affected by these layoffs.