Supermassive’s Directive 8020 Hit by Delay After Layoffs

In a stark but not totally unexpected move, Supermassive Games has officially pushed back the launch of Directive 8020, their next entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology. First teased as part of the Season 2 line-up, this sci-fi horror game was set to venture far — literally and thematically — from the grounded terror of the series so far. But amid reported company-wide layoffs in early 2025, development has taken a significant hit, slowing progress and setting back plans indefinitely.

Eurogamer broke the news on July 22, 2025, citing direct statements from Supermassive Games following internal restructuring. The studio has not provided a new release window, and with roughly 90 employees affected by the cuts earlier this year, that silence speaks volumes. For fans, the anticipation is palpable. Directive 8020 was poised to inject fresh energy into a now-familiar formula. But can a studio facing workforce reductions deliver the ambitious narrative shift this title promised?

A Space Horror Odyssey: What Makes Directive 8020 Stand Out?

Directive 8020, which is set to be a third-person horror adventure, represents a bold step forward for the anthology. Unlike previous entries rooted in folklore, small-town legends, or occult horror (see: House of Ashes, Little Hope), this game propels players into deep space aboard the Cassiopeia, a colonisation starship headed for a new planet called Tau Ceti f. Things, of course, go swiftly and horrifically wrong.

Players take control of a small crew sent to investigate a distress signal from the planet’s surface, and unsurprisingly, uncover something far worse than radio silence. Supermassive had teased hallmarks of the genre: claustrophobic corridors, mysterious alien parasites, and a ship possibly turning on its passengers. Combine that with the series’ trademark branching storylines and cooperative multiplayer, and it’s no wonder fans were eager.

But now, with progress frozen, questions linger over whether the studio can maintain that ambitious direction under tighter timelines and reduced staffing. As of now, all we know is that the game will still be published by Bandai Namco and released on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms. No preorder details or pricing have been shared, not surprising, given the development phase it’s currently in.

Given that Directive 8020 was originally pitched as the launchpad for a new arc of The Dark Pictures Anthology, the delay sets the tone for the rest of the season, too. It originally carried the burden of steering the franchise into its next evolution, an evolution now stuck in orbit.

So, what does all this mean for narrative horror fans? With recent entries like The Devil in Me underwhelming critics, Directive 8020 was seen as a potential comeback. And while sci-fi horror has grown increasingly popular, The Callisto Protocol, Dead Space Remake, and Supermassive Games are among the few studios combining cinematic gameplay with multiplayer narrative formats. This delay could hand competitors an edge, especially with studios like Red Barrels and Frictional doubling down on genre innovation.

Still, it’s not all doom. Supermassive has faced rocky roads before delayed releases (remember the Until Dawn saga?), feature overhauls, and lukewarm sequels, and yet emerged with critical darlings that stick in pop horror’s bloodstream. The question is whether they’ll have the bandwidth to do so again, or if Directive 8020 will instead mark a cautionary tale about overexpansion and market fatigue in the hyper-competitive horror space. For now, you can only wait, possibly for a long while, until we set foot aboard the Cassiopeia.