Ninja Theory starts layoffs as Supermassive cuts more than 70 jobs, two UK studios in one day

Hellblade studio Ninja Theory began redundancies on 5 October after two sales fell through, the same day Supermassive confirmed more than 70 people had left following Directive 8020.

AI-drafted from 5 sources. This story was written with AI from the outside reporting listed under Sources, and checked by automated tools before it went up. The originals have the full detail.

Two of Britain's best known studios lost people on the same Monday. On 5 October, staff at Ninja Theory in Cambridge began posting on LinkedIn that their roles were at risk of redundancy, two weeks after Xbox said it would consult on closing the studio. The same morning, Supermassive Games in Guildford confirmed that a consultation announced in August had ended with more than 70 colleagues leaving.

Ninja Theory

Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty set the clock running in a 22 September message to staff. "Unfortunately, two separate agreements for Ninja Theory fell through," he wrote. "We will now begin consultation with employees on a proposed closure while continuing to explore other paths forward." Microsoft has not named either party.

The studio was one of four Xbox said in July it would sell or spin off, part of a reset that cut 3,200 jobs across the division, Game Developer reports. The other three found a way out. Compulsion and Double Fine went back to their founders in August with their games and some runway funding, and Undead Labs has since left on similar terms, with State of Decay 3 still coming to Game Pass on day one through a new publisher. Ninja Theory did not.

Under UK law a consultation has to run before anyone is dismissed, so a role at risk is not yet a job lost. In practice, as PC Gamer notes, it is about as close as it gets. "It's incredibly sad knowing that we won't get to finish what we were working on," gameplay programmer Katrin Mair wrote. "So much care, talent and effort went into it, and I really wish we'd had the chance to see what it could have become."

What they were working on was Senua, a third Hellblade game shown at Xbox's June games presentation and expected in 2027. Aftermath notes that Game File reported at the time that Microsoft already planned to sell or close the studio, and hoped the trailer would attract a buyer. Microsoft bought Ninja Theory in 2018 for $117 million, according to FTC filings. Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, released in May 2024, picked up 11 BAFTA Games nominations and won for technical achievement.

Supermassive

Supermassive, the studio behind Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology, announced on 11 August a redundancy consultation it expected "will result in the loss of up to 75 of our colleagues", calling it "a necessary step to help ensure the sustainability of the company". That was three months after Directive 8020, its sci-fi horror game, launched on 12 May.

The consultation has now concluded. "More than 70 brilliant people are leaving Supermassive," Frank Tindle, the studio's IT and facilities director, wrote on LinkedIn, listing developers, artists, producers, QA and operations staff among them. He had been there 16 years and is one of the 70. "Any studio would be lucky to have them." It is the studio's third round of cuts since the start of 2024.

Beyond the two studios

PC Gamer's round-up adds two notes. Developers at The Coalition told Eurogamer they expect cuts even though Gears of War: E-Day shipped on 6 October; story director Juan Vaca was let go in September, days after the game went gold, and staff worry about Metacritic bonuses due at the end of the month that depend on still being employed. And Warhorse co-founder Martin Klima told PC Gamer in September that the push to bring costs down could move work to "countries that are cheaper", naming Central and Eastern Europe, China and India.

For small studios the shape of this is familiar. A publisher-owned team is kept alive while a buyer is sought, then wound down when none appears. Dozens of experienced developers in Cambridge and Guildford are looking for work at once, which is grim for them and, in a cold way, a chance for any independent team hiring in the south of England this autumn.

Sources

Image: Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios, Steam store page

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