Trace layoffs of 36 employees were announced by Supermassive Games, the studio behind Until Dawn and The Quarry. Yes, let that gearing in. The tweet was worthy of every grain of dirt and reacted to predictably with chaos, hot takes, and a lot of arguing.
The statement released by the studio was pretty much clear; that they were about to enter a period of “redundancy consultation,” which, of course, in corporate jargon, means: “We have to let some folks go.” Gamers, in unforeseen fashion, took to the comment replies, which then devolved into keyboard wars of sorts. Some players, like @Case_Repository, were supportive, stating that they had been “way too hyped” about the new game and wished them all the best. But there were others behind the lamps like @AmigaGuruBlog, who took a more sentimental view, recalling playing some older Supermassive titles, like Start The Party, with their family.
But others. Those pushing you to ask: “Wait, did they really say that?” One user, @malakaddo, set off the thread criticizing the studio for choosing “inclusion over a good fucking game.” The uproar started there. Responses started flooding in, with @Ercoman replying to call the take “nonsensical,” along with many other words that can’t be printed here. The uproar got loud enough that @Baelwolfram got pulled in, asking all to “Define woke.” (Spoiler alert: No one did.)
Other gamers were confused. @ShutUpPabs.comyers spelt out the meaning of “redundancy consultation,” asking whether it really meant that those laid off were literally redundant. (Ouch.) Then, there was @ArtsyMixedBoy just coming clean: How about Until Dawn 2 instead of whatever Supermassive is working on now? (Solid.)
But here’s the thing-this is more than just Supermassive-Games. The industry-wide drain of jobs marked last year, with over 8,500 layoffs in 2024 so far, as pointed by @adenough. Studios tighten up their belts, projects get cut-a whole lot of “sucks.”
Now where does that land Supermassive? They still have Directive 8020 cooking, although @aaron_poublon joked that it will likely launch in 2030 at this pace. (Too true.) Then, there is the whole disgruntled fan base upset about the studio’s slower release pace-aging @AdrienMJ to mock their goal of “2 games per year” turning into “1 game per 2 years,” whereas there are folks like @longliveezio that just hope those laid off will be okay.
At the end of it all, layoffs are ugly, and the gaming community always responds in a chaotic mix. Some show empathy; others bring… whatever @malakaddo’s thread was about. But one thing remains certain: Supermassive better step up coherent with its next move; otherwise, the internet will make sure to not let them have any peace again.
That is, anyway, the hard time that the studio is facing, made harder for the devs, and honestly? Maybe just replay Until Dawn while waiting for the next best. I can assure you one thing-Until Dawn is definitely a banger.
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