Supermassive Games Cuts Over 70 Staff in Latest UK Games Layoffs

Supermassive Games has laid off more than 70 people, according to a report by Insider Gaming — one of the larger single-studio cuts to hit the UK games industry this year.

The British studio, best known for narrative horror titles including Until Dawn and The Quarry, has not publicly detailed which teams or disciplines the reductions affect. The figure of over 70 departures comes from Insider Gaming's reporting rather than an official company disclosure, so the final number may shift as affected staff confirm their status publicly.

For a studio of Supermassive's size — a mid-sized developer employing several hundred people — a cut of this scale removes a meaningful share of the workforce in one move. That matters for two groups of workers in particular: senior narrative, cinematic and animation specialists clustered around the Guildford area, and junior staff whose roles are often the first to be consolidated when production pipelines shrink.

What does this mean for affected workers?

Anyone let go from Supermassive enters a UK games labour market that has absorbed repeated studio reductions over the past two years. The practical consequences:

• Competition for senior roles intensifies locally, since displaced colleagues with similar credits are job-hunting at the same time.
• Horror and interactive-drama experience — Supermassive's specialism — remains a differentiated skill set, but few UK studios build that genre at scale, which narrows the pool of direct-fit openings.
• Remote and cross-border applications become more attractive, widening the search beyond the South East cluster.

What does it signal for the sector?

A reduction of more than 70 roles at a studio with a strong franchise track record fits the broader pattern Industry watchers have documented since 2023: publishers are cutting projects mid-development, and headcount follows project cancellations with a lag of months.

Mid-sized independent studios sit in the most exposed position. They lack the balance-sheet cushion of platform owners, and they depend on a small number of publishing contracts. When one project is rescoped or dropped, layoffs arrive quickly and in bulk rather than through gradual attrition.

For workers weighing offers right now, the episode is a reminder to scrutinise a studio's project pipeline and publisher relationships — not just salary — before signing. Studio size alone is no longer a proxy for stability.

Insider Gaming's report did not specify severance terms or whether further cuts are planned. More departures or an official statement from Supermassive Games would clarify whether this is a single reduction or the start of a broader restructuring.