The studio behind Until Dawn and Little Nightmares III, Supermassive Games, is laying off up to 36 people and delaying their latest Dark Pictures anthology game, Directive 8020, to 2026.
In a post to their LinkedIn page, the studio acknowledged the current games industry as a “challenging and ever-evolving environment” and the reason for the beginning of redundancy consultations. Supermassive Games is a British development studio and, as of 2023, employed 350 staff. This is the second round of layoffs to hit the studio in as many years, after approximately 90 roles were shed in early 2024, and comes at a time of massive upheaval, with layoffs across the industry occurring at Xbox, Bioware and too many more to list.
Directive 8020 is set to be the fifth in their ongoing Dark Pictures anthology series of games, following games like Man of Medan, Little Hope and The Devil in Me. The anthology is reportedly planned to consist of eight games, each inspired by a different horror genre. Directive 8020 continues the formula established in previous games with multilinear plots and a cast of playable characters, and marks the first Dark Pictures game to draw inspiration from science-fiction horror like Alien and The Thing.
Supermassive Games is also the developer behind forthcoming Little Nightmares III, which is scheduled for release October 10, 2025. According to Supermassive Games’ statement, its development will not be impacted by this latest round of layoffs.
About the Author
Cass Barkman
she/they
Cass is a lecturer in Media and Communications at The University of Melbourne with a personal/academic love for experimental narrative videogames, complex cinema and having a little nap.
