In February of 2024 Supermassive laid off 30% of their workforce. Couple this with the layoffs a few days ago, and I cannot see the studio being in good shape as they stand right now. Shareholders and developers that consistently lay off their workers do not seem to be aware of brain drain, which is just a not-so fancy term that points to how if a studio fires their employees, then they’re going to have less talented people to make games for them. This era of industry layoffs has continued relatively unimpeded, and the developers and gaming community continue to suffer the effects.
Developer Statement:
“The games industry remains a challenging and ever‑evolving environment. As we adapt our team structure to better align with these changes, we’ve had to make the very difficult decision to begin a redundancy consultation process where we anticipate losing up to 36 of our colleagues.
This decision was not taken lightly, and we know this will be an incredibly difficult time for everyone. 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.”
Have you seen a statement from a developer regarding layoffs like this before? I certainly have! In fact, I have seen so many as of late, and they are all so similar that they just sort of blur together. These layoff statements consistently lack empathy for the many people whose livelihoods have been abruptly taken from them, though at least Supermassive has offered “full support to all those affected.”
Personally, I am okay with most delays as they ideally lead to a better product for us gamers, however, it is hard to believe this delay is only related to polishing the game and fixing bugs since they announced the delay along with the layoffs. I am a fan of Supermassive Games, but they are not exactly a “massive” studio, and these layoffs make me worry about their sustainability moving forward.
Typically, these types of layoffs are for cost cutting to make the numbers go up to please shareholders. Reading the recent statement and also knowing that this is not the first time Supermassive has cut a significant amount of their workforce before, makes this announcement even more concerning. Here’s hoping they have a plan for the future of their talented team.
