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Supermassive Games, known for crafting Until Dawn and the Dark Pictures Anthology horror series, announced a new round of job cuts affecting up to 36 employees.
In an official statement shared across its social media channels this afternoon, Supermassive also revealed that its highly anticipated sci-fi horror title, Directive 8020, has been pushed back. The game is now scheduled for release in the "first half of 2026".
Explaining the workforce reductions, Supermassive stated it needed to restructure its team to better align with a "challenging and ever-evolving" gaming landscape. These cuts follow an earlier reduction wave in March 2024, where approximately 90 staff members were let go under similar circumstances.
With the studio reporting around 350 employees as of 2023, this latest round means Supermassive has reduced its workforce by roughly one-third over the past eighteen months.
"We remain focused on our upcoming projects and have made the decision to move the launch of Directive 8020 to the first half of 2026," Supermassive noted. "The response to the game so far has been fantastic, and this additional time will help us deliver the very best experience for our fans. We're deeply grateful for the patience and support of our community."
A standalone addition to the Dark Pictures Anthology franchise, Directive 8020 was first spotted among a list of upcoming titles in early 2022. It was officially confirmed later that year via a trailer shown at the end of The Dark Pictures: The Devil In Me. Now three years later, fans are still eagerly awaiting its release.
A statement from Supermassive Games.
— Supermassive Games (@SuperMGames)
pic.twitter.com/Vom1CSGYGs
The Dark Pictures Anthology began in 2019 with the eerie boat mystery Man of Medan. It was followed by the historical horror Little Hope in 2020 and the Iraq-set House of Ashes in 2021. The series continued with the murder hotel-inspired The Devil in Me in 2022, before branching out into virtual reality with Switchback VR a year later.
Since then, development on new entries has seemingly slowed down. Directive 8020 is now set to launch at least three years after the franchise's last title and will serve as a more standalone experience. Supermassive mentions using this extra time to enhance gameplay mechanics, though connections to previous games—such as through the recurring Curator character—are expected to be minimized.
In the interim, Supermassive continues work on its delayed Little Nightmares 3, currently slated for an October 10 release. The studio confirmed that development on this project remains unaffected by today's layoffs.
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