Supermassive Games

**Supermassive Games Ltd** is a British video game development studio located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Initially involved in developing children's games and downloadable content for them, the studio became famous for narrative interactive horror games, such as *Until Dawn*, *The Dark Pictures Anthology*, and *The Quarry*.

## History

Supermassive Games was found in 2008 by Pete Samuels, who have previously worked at Psygnosis and Electronic Arts. Originally, the studio served as a second-party developer for Sony Interactive Entertainment (previously known as Sony Computer Entertainment), with it's first works were downloadable content for Media Molecule's *LittleBigPlanet*, and games using the PlayStation Move motion controller including *Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves* and *Start the Party!*. In 2012-2013, Supermassive Games partnered with BBC Worldwide and released *Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock* and *Walking with Dinosaurs: Wonderbook*. The former game was intended to be the first part of the "Doctor Who" trilogy, but was poorly received, prompting the BBC to cancel the series.

Supermassive Games' breakout title *Until Dawn*, the interactive survival horror inspired by slasher films, was also initially envisioned as a PlayStation Move title, although all motion controls were dropped when it was retooled into a PlayStation 4 game. *Until Dawn* was released in 2015 and became an unexpected success for Sony, leading to Supermassive Games expanding its universe with two more games for PlayStation VR, spin-off *Rush of Blood* and prequel *The Impatient*. In 2018, Supermassive Games released two non-horror games, *Bravo Team* for PSVR and *Shattered State* for Google Daydream, which, however, didn't gain as much popularity as other games of that time and were poorly received.

Supermassive Games returned to the horror genre after partnering with publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment. Inspired by multiple horror anthologies, the studio decided to make its own series called *The Dark Pictures Anthology*, which, unlike all of the studio's previous titles (except *Doctor Who* and *Shattered State*), became available for platforms other than PlayStation. *The Dark Pictures* began with the release of *Man of Medan* in 2019, followed by *Little Hope* in 2020, *House of Ashes* in 2021, and *The Devil in Me* in 2022, which concluded the first season of the series. In 2023, the studio developed the first spin-off for the anthology, *Switchback VR* (which is also a spiritual successor of *Until Dawn*'s spin-off, *Rush of Blood*), released exclusively on PlayStation VR2.

In 2022, during the development of *The Devil in Me*, Supermassive Games announced that they are also developing *The Quarry*, a stand-alone '80s-style horror title envisioned as a spiritual successor of *Until Dawn* and cousin of *The Dark Pictures Anthology*. The game was released on June 10 of the same year, with publisher being 2K Games. In March 2021, the Danish entertainment company Nordisk Film, under Nordisk Games division, purchased a 30.7% stake in the studio. In July 2022, Nordisk Games fully acquired Supermassive Games, making it a subsidiary of the Denmark-based company.

Currently, Supermassive Games is working on three projects. The first two with 2024 release dates: *Little Nightmares III*, the third installment of the *Little Nightmares* series; and *The Casting of Frank Stone*, a standalone game taking place in the *Dead by Daylight* universe in collaboration with Behaviour Interactive; and the last one with an unknown release date: *Directive 8020*, the fifth installment of *The Dark Pictures Anthology*.

## Description

Founded in 2008, the studio is now home to over 350 talented individuals working across a range of storytelling titles. In 2022 Supermassive Games was fully acquired by Nordisk Games, part of the Egmont Group, and we look forward to even more exciting times with them alongside us.
The studio has received numerous awards, including a BAFTA for Until Dawn and recognition from our trade body TIGA.
The studio also works with GamesAid, other charities and educational establishments.
With a passion to deliver high-end interactive drama, Supermassive Games is carving a unique and exciting path in the games industry.

## References

1. ↑ Gematsu - "*Nordisk Games acquires Supermassive Games*"
2. ↑ About Supermassive Games