Supermassive Games has laid off more than 70 staff after warning in August that up to 75 roles were at risk. Here is what is confirmed, what remains unclear, and what fans of Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures should take from the cuts.
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More than 70 staff are leaving Supermassive after its August warning
Supermassive Games, the Guildford studio known for Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology, has laid off more than 70 staff following a redundancy process it publicly warned about in August. The clearest public figure comes from Frank Tindle, formerly Supermassive’s IT and Facilities Director, who wrote on LinkedIn that his own 16-year run at the studio had ended and that “more than 70 brilliant people” were leaving across development, art, production, QA, operations and other roles.
That figure lines up closely with Supermassive’s earlier official statement. On August 11, the studio said on X that it had begun a redundancy consultation process expected to result in the loss of up to 75 colleagues. Supermassive described the move then as “a necessary step to help ensure the sustainability of the company.” As of the reports from VGC, Eurogamer, Push Square, Rock Paper Shotgun and others, the studio had not issued a fresh public statement confirming the final number after the process concluded.
The immediate tension is the gap between a warning and its human cost. In August, the cuts were framed as a consultation with a maximum expected headcount. This week, according to Tindle’s public post, that warning has become departures across the teams that build, test, support and ship Supermassive’s horror games.
The confirmed scale is narrow, but significant
The safest way to state the confirmed scale is precise: a former senior staff member says more than 70 people are leaving, while Supermassive previously said up to 75 roles were at risk. Some outlets have rounded that to 70, 70-plus or more than 70, but the public source they are relying on is Tindle’s LinkedIn post. That distinction matters because Supermassive has not yet published a final redundancy total.
Tindle’s post also makes clear that the cuts were not confined to one discipline. He named developers, artists, producers, QA and operations among those departing. Rock Paper Shotgun also reported that Supermassive talent acquisition leader Tim Browning posted about his own departure, adding another public sign that the redundancy process affected internal support and staffing functions as well as game production teams.
For readers tracking the Supermassive Games layoffs through search terms like “Supermassive layoffs 70 staff,” the reliable picture is this: the studio warned of up to 75 losses in August, and by early October a departing senior employee said more than 70 people were leaving. Claims beyond that, such as exact team-by-team breakdowns or the fate of specific unannounced projects, are not established by the provided sources.
This is the second major cut in recent memory
The latest Supermassive Games job cuts did not arrive in isolation. VGC and Eurogamer both point to an earlier round in July 2025, when the studio announced cuts affecting more than 30 staff, with Eurogamer describing the planned number as up to 36 employees. Supermassive said at the time that those cuts would help it adapt its team structure to recent industry changes, according to Eurogamer. That earlier reduction was also tied to the delay of Directive 8020, the sci-fi entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology.
Directive 8020 later launched in May 2026, according to Eurogamer and God is a Geek. VGC described its reception as middling among critics and players, while Eurogamer called it divisive, citing praise for its cast alongside criticism of grating stealth gameplay. Console Creatures’ review excerpt was more positive on the overall game, but it also singled out stealth sections as a drag on the tension. Across those accounts, the picture is of a game with recognizable Supermassive strengths, especially atmosphere and character-driven horror, landing in a difficult commercial and critical climate.
There is also leadership context. VGC reported that Robert Henrysson, who joined Supermassive as CEO in January 2024, stepped down in June 2026, saying he wanted to enjoy the summer with his family and spend more time on his own investment portfolio. That does not, by itself, explain the layoffs. It does show that the studio has been through staff reductions, a delayed release, a major launch and a CEO change within a relatively compressed period.
Directive 8020 remains the project fans can track right now
For fans asking the practical question, there is no confirmed cancellation in the provided sources. Directive 8020 is already out on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, according to Eurogamer and God is a Geek. God is a Geek reported that the game launched with local co-op for up to five players through Movie Night mode. Rock Paper Shotgun and Kotaku both noted that Supermassive recently announced plans to add online multiplayer to Directive 8020 in October, with Rock Paper Shotgun citing a Steam update and God is a Geek citing a September 30 post from The Dark Pictures account on X.
That online multiplayer update is the most concrete near-term item for players to watch. The sources say it is planned for October, but God is a Geek reported that no specific date had been set. Anyone waiting to play Directive 8020 with a remote friend should treat the October window as an announced plan, not a delivered feature, until the patch is live.
From a horror design perspective, the update matters because Supermassive’s games often gain part of their pressure from shared decision-making. A single bad call in a branching scene can turn a quiet corridor into a body count. Online co-op can change the rhythm of that pressure, especially for players who treat these games as group movie nights with quick-time panic, suspicion and blame passed between friends. The sources, however, do not say whether the layoffs will affect the timing or scope of that update, so that connection should not be assumed.
The Dark Pictures and Until Dawn context makes the cuts sting harder
Supermassive’s reputation was built on cinematic horror in which performance capture, sound design, timed choices and survival outcomes carry much of the fear. VGC notes that the British developer is best known for Until Dawn, its PlayStation horror hit, and that the game later received a film adaptation. After Until Dawn and several PlayStation VR projects, Supermassive launched The Dark Pictures Anthology. VGC reports that the first four entries, Man of Medan, Little Hope, House of Ashes and The Devil in Me, were published by Bandai Namco, while Directive 8020 was self-published by Supermassive.
That shift is worth noting because it changes the shape of risk around a studio. The provided sources do not lay out Supermassive’s finances, so no one should pretend to know the internal business math. What is confirmed is that Directive 8020 followed a previous layoff-linked delay, arrived in May, and was later followed by another redundancy process expected to cut up to 75 roles. In horror terms, that is the resource squeeze behind the locked door: fewer people leaving across multiple functions at a studio whose games depend on many specialized crafts working in sequence.
There are also boundaries around Until Dawn. Kotaku reported that an Until Dawn sequel is expected in 2027 but said the Sony franchise has been assigned to PlayStation studio Firesprite rather than Supermassive. That means the phrase “Until Dawn studio layoffs” is historically accurate for Supermassive’s legacy, but the provided sources do not support saying these cuts directly affect that reported sequel.
What remains unanswered for players and staff
The biggest unanswered question is not whether the August warning led to job losses. Tindle’s post strongly indicates that it did. The unanswered questions are the final confirmed headcount, which teams were reduced most heavily, whether Supermassive will issue a new statement, and how the remaining studio is now structured around ongoing work.
For fans of The Dark Pictures, the clearest guidance is to follow official channels for shipped features rather than infer future plans from layoffs. PSU reported that a next Dark Pictures chapter was teased during Directive 8020 and is believed to be titled The Craven Man, but also stated that nothing official has been announced. That leaves it in a different category from Directive 8020’s online multiplayer update, which the sources say has been publicly planned for October.
For now, the confirmed story is stark enough without embellishment. Supermassive warned in August that up to 75 colleagues could lose their jobs to help ensure the company’s sustainability. Two months later, a departing senior staff member says more than 70 people are leaving. For a studio whose best work depends on carefully rationed dread, controlled pacing and a large team making invisible systems feel cinematic, the loss of so many people is a major development. The next thing players can verify is whether Directive 8020’s online multiplayer arrives as planned, while the longer future of Supermassive’s horror slate remains officially unannounced.