Just a few weeks after the , Supermassive Games, the developer of Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology series, has confirmed that it is undergoing a "reorganization," and [[link]] that layoffs will occur as a result.
The layoffs were first reported [[link]] by , which said 150 employees were notified that they are "at risk" of being let go, and that roughly 90 will be laid off. Supermassive is a British studio and thus subject to UK law requiring that employees be given a "consultation period" in advance of large-scale layoffs. Supermassive's page says the studio currently has more than 350 employees "working across a range of storytelling titles."
In a posted to LinkedIn, Supermassive confirmed the layoffs, saying the cuts are being forced by the "significant challenges" currently facing the videogame industry as a whole.
"After much deliberation and with deep regret, we are therefore undertaking a reorganization of Supermassive Games," the studio said. "As a result, we are entering into a period of consultation, which we anticipate will result in the loss of some of our colleagues."
The studio didn't say how many employees will be let go but added that it is focusing on its "core strengths" and upcoming games to ensure sustainability in the future.
Supermassive was founded in [[link]] 2008 and hit the big time in 2015 with the award-winning PS4 game Until Dawn, which is finally later this year. The studio enjoyed continued success with subsequent releases including series and . In 2022 it was acquired by , a division of Danish media corporation Egmont Group, whose team "includes entrepreneurs, games industry thought leaders, strategists, and number crunchers." Make of that what you will.
2023 was a very bad year for layoffs in the videogame industry, and 2024 so far hasn't been any better: In the wake of more 11,000 layoffs through 2023, nearly in January 2024 alone. That awful pace has continued into February: Earlier this month, Homeworld 3 studio confirmed that it too was laying off an unspecified number of employees.