Supermassive Lays Off 70 People Less Than Six Months After Releasing Its New Sci-Fi Horror Game - Kotaku

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Directive 8020 was met with mixed reviews on Steam

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directive 8020 Layoffs supermassive games Until Dawn

By Ethan Gach Published October 5, 2026 | Comments (21) | 𝕏

Supermassive Games is downsizing after releasing Directive 8020 earlier this year. The horror studio shed 70 people today, according to the head of IT, who was also laid off.

“I joined in 2010 as the IT department, all of it, and I leave as IT & Facilities Director and a member of the Senior Leadership Team,” Frank Tindle wrote on LinkedIn on October 5 (via Insider Gaming). “In between, the studio grew from a handful of us to more than 400 people. What I’m proudest of, though, is the people. Past and present, sixteen years of the best people I’ve worked with.”

He continued, “And it isn’t just me leaving today. More than 70 brilliant people are leaving Supermassive: developers, artists, producers, QA, operations and more. Any studio would be lucky to have them. If you’re hiring, DM me and I’ll make the introduction.”

A statement from Supermassive Games. pic.twitter.com/Sy5i7iB59Z

— Supermassive Games (@SuperMGames) August 11, 2026

Supermassive Games is known for shipping interactive horror games in which choices impact the storyline, including 2022’s The Quarry, 2024’s The Casting of Frank Stone, and The Dark Pictures Anthology. None of the games were mega-hits or reviewed great, but they still often found an audience among horror enthusiasts.

Directive 8020 had some of the studio’s best horror game moments yet, but was also dragged down by bad writing and missing online co-op. Supermassive just announced last week that online multiplayer would finally be getting patched in sometime in October, nearly five months after the game had launched.

The studio warned about the coming layoffs back in August. “This is a necessary step to help ensure the sustainability of the company,” Supermassive wrote at the time. Its best-known horror release, Until Dawn, is getting a sequel in 2027, but the Sony franchise has been farmed out to the PlayStation studio Firesprite instead.