Supermassive Games just cut more than 70 staff barely five months after shipping Directive 8020, confirming the redundancy process it warned about in August would hit up to 75 roles. Former IT and Facilities Director Frank Tindle, a 16-year veteran who rose to the senior leadership team as the studio ballooned past 400 employees, posted the details on LinkedIn: developers, artists, producers, QA, operations and more walked out the door alongside him. The studio called the move a necessary step for sustainability after previous rounds of cuts in 2024 and 2025.

Directive 8020 launched May 12 to mixed reviews, with Steam user scores dragged down by complaints over writing and the absence of promised online co-op that only arrives in a late October patch. The title peaked at just 3,000 concurrent players and reportedly sold around 447,000 units across platforms. Until Dawn 2 was already handed off to Firesprite, leaving the Guildford studio with Little Nightmares III and whatever comes next on a much smaller roster.

This is the third major round of layoffs in three years for a studio whose choice-driven horror formula once looked like a steady niche play. Tindle’s post offered no corporate platitudes, just a quiet nod to the talent now available and a DM invitation for anyone hiring. The pattern is the same across the industry: ship the game, then ship the people.