Dark Pictures studio Supermassive has announced a round of layoffs and delayed its sci-fi horror game Directive 8020 into 2026

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In a statement published on its social media channels, the studio said that it had begun the redundancy process for around 36 employees.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and we know this will be an incredibly difficult time for everyone," it said. "Our absolute priority will be to offer full support to all those affected.

"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.

"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. There is no impact on the development of Little Nightmares III."

Directive 8020 was originally due to release in October for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

The British developer, based in Guildford, Surrey, is best known for its PlayStation horror hit, Until Dawn. The game, which was adapted for the silver screen earlier this year, was popular with both hardcore players, and fostered a new, more casual audience.

 
Sucks for the employees, hope they land on their feet.

Was looking forward to Directive 8020 as the Halloween game for this year.
 
Phil didn't invent layoffs, he just made them great again.
Yeah, seems like layoffs are in vouge right now.

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Just saw this aswell:

This LinkedIn post by Erwan Perrin, whose profile cites him as having been a permanent Spiders staffer since 2021, has been reposted by at least four other workers at the the studio.

"We've recently been informed that, like most of the industry, Spiders Games will proceed a layoff plan and sadly most of the Animation and Rig team will be affected," Perrin wrote. As of writing, Spiders gameplay animator Lucas Dubois, game designer Antoine Dieulesaint, game animator Raphaël Brousseau, and dialogue artist Yaseen Lalmahomed are among those who've reposted the message.

It's currently unclear how many staff have been affected by these alleged cuts. We've reached out to Spiders for comment.
 
Regardless of the fact that not all of their games (or the genre they focus on most) aren't for everyone and have ups and downs in quality... I've always thought they're a studio that's diligent and competent when it comes to consistently releasing game projects.

It's a shame for those who are losing their jobs; I hope they're not severely affected by this reduction in capacity.

PS: I'm happy that the release of TLN 3 wasn't affected. I'm really looking forward to it.
 
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