Supermassive Games, the studio best known for making choice-filled horror games that are borderline interactive movies, announced that it is planning to lay off employees as job losses continue to devastate the gaming industry.
In a statement posted on Twitter/X, the developer acknowledged the challenges the gaming industry currently faces with mass layoffs, and that it was not “immune” to this. It stated it was “undertaking a reorganisation” of its studio and planned to enter “into a period of consultation,” which would affect some of its employees.
Although Supermassive did not disclose how many employees are affected, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier wrote before the announcement that the British developer planned to lay off “around 90 workers.”
“This is not a decision that’s been taken lightly,” Supermassive said, "with many efforts made to avoid this outcome.”
A statement from Supermassive Games. pic.twitter.com/9GkgIrYQvt
— Supermassive Games (@SuperMGames) February 26, 2024
Supermassive Games opened its doors in 2008, but the studio made a name for itself in 2015 with the release of Until Dawn. In the years since, Supermassive has established itself as a horror game developer specializing in narrative-driven games emphasizing player choice.
Most notably, the studio has partnered with Bandai Namco to develop The Dark Pictures Anthology series, which has spawned four games and a fifth currently in development, in addition to an spinoff on-rails shooter released last year on PS VR2. Additionally, Supermassive is working on Little Nightmares 3 and The Casting of Frank Stone, the latter a single-player narrative game set in Behaviour Interactive’s Dead by Daylight universe.
Supermassive is just one of many developers to suffer layoffs, with over 6,000 jobs impacted this year alone. Other companies affected include Sega of America, Embracer Group, and Microsoft.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
