Studio to release game after eight month delay

Bafta-winning studio Supermassive Games is set to release its new game, Directive 8020, following an eight month delay.

In July 2025, the Guildford-based studio announced the game's delay, along with the sacking of 36 employees due to the "challenging" nature of the games industry.

Despite the new release date being pushed back from 2 October 2025 to 12 May, creative director Will Doyle said the team had been "very energised" and had used the extra time to improve the the final outcome.

"Our games are very cinematic so they just benefit from much more time," Doyle said.

The developer said the decision to let 36 employees go "was not taken lightly", and the delay would allow them to "deliver the very best experience" for their fans.

They are not the only developer to be hit with job losses, as Microsoft also set out plans in 2025 to let go as many as 9,000 workers, causing the cancellation of some of their video game projects.

While Supermassive's delay did not cause any projects to be discarded, fans had been told the project would be moved to "the first half of 2026".

"This [game] is in some ways, without spoilers, a follow on from House of Ashes," he said, referencing the third game in The Dark Pictures Anthology, a series which features stand-alone horror games.

Directive 8020, the fifth instalment in the series, is headed by British actress Lashana Lynch who stars as protagonist Brianna Young, an astronaut and pilot trying to save her crew from an alien mimic.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.