Supermassive Games, the developers behind Until Dawn, have recently announced another round of job cuts, as detailed in a statement shared on social media. In this communication, the studio acknowledges the challenges currently facing the video game industry and discusses some of the potential impacts of these layoffs on their operations. One such impact is on their upcoming project Directive 8020, which has been pushed back from its initial 2025 release date to the “first half” of 2026. This news, along with other industry layoffs, has caused a ripple of concern among gamers about the evolving gaming world.
As a gamer speaking directly, I’m sharing some disappointing news: Supermassive Games is planning to let go of around 36 more team members as part of a “redundancy consultation” process. Earlier this year, Jason Schreier from Bloomberg reported that the studio was already letting go of 90 employees, which is almost a third of their entire workforce. It seems that a similar statement was released back in February, using quite similar language to the one now.
The recent statement published on Tuesday, like the one from February, mentioned that the decision to let employees go was not made lightly and was due to difficulties within the gaming industry and the studio’s restructuring efforts. What sets this latest statement by Supermassive Games apart is that it now mentions Directive 8020 as being impacted.
Supermassive Games announced they are pushing back the release of Directive 8020 to the first half of 2026, allowing them more time to fine-tune the game for an exceptional player experience based on the positive feedback received so far.
A statement from Supermassive Games.
— Supermassive Games (@SuperMGames) July 22, 2025
The independent survival game titled Directive 8020 is set to launch in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam platforms. Just like its predecessors, such as Until Dawn and The Quarry, players in this game will experience shifting perspectives among various protagonists as they navigate through perilous situations. The decisions made by the players will significantly impact the story’s conclusion and the destinies of diverse characters.
These games are recognized for their deep narrative and engaging storytelling elements, however, they’re criticized for having limited gameplay interaction beyond Quick Time Events and dialogue options. In more recent times, the studio has moved its attention from its popular standalone games to a linked series called The Dark Pictures Anthology, which has sparked debate among fans. The postponement of Directive 8020, the fifth game in The Dark Pictures series, has led to some discontent among gamers online.
User Beaver Edits expressed surprise by saying, “Wow, I can’t believe they’re switching from annual Dark Pictures releases to every four years!” He added that this upcoming game needs to be exceptional because he finds it hard to envision waiting until 2030 for the next installment.
In collaboration with Bandai Namco, Supermassive Games is currently working on a forthcoming puzzle-platform horror game titled “Little Nightmares III“. This game will be available starting October 9th. Fortunately, as per the latest update, the production of “Little Nightmares III” won’t be impacted by any layoffs. Originally scheduled for a 2024 launch, the game has been moved to this year instead.
As a devoted fan, I can’t help but feel concerned about the recent round of layoffs at Supermassive Games this year. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to foresee what lies ahead for this studio and their upcoming projects. With ongoing challenges in the industry, there’s a growing apprehension that we, as fans, might have to wait even longer for new releases from Supermassive Games.
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2025-07-22 21:42