Two of Nordisk Games’ studios are teaming up. The Danish games group announced on Thursday, October 8, that Avalanche Studios Group, the studio behind Just Cause and theHunter: Call of the Wild, will take over global publishing, marketing, and distribution for Supermassive Games, the horror specialist behind Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology.
The first game under the deal is Directive 8020, Supermassive’s sci-fi horror game that launched earlier this year. Nordisk calls it the first step in a long-term collaboration between the two studios, according to its announcement.
The partnership goes beyond publishing. The two studios will share operational support across finance, people, and IT. Nordisk stresses that both will stay “fully creatively independent,” with complete ownership of their own games, creative direction, and development roadmaps.
“This is about setting our studios up for sustainable long-term success. In a shifting industry, our priority is giving teams the focus they need to do what they do best,” said Allan Mathson Hansen, CEO of Nordisk Film and Nordisk Games. “Avalanche brings proven publishing strength and operational maturity, while Supermassive brings world-class storytelling and craft.”
Avalanche CEO Stefanía Halldórsdóttir pointed to the studio’s live-game track record, noting that two million monthly players are still playing theHunter: Call of the Wild nine years after launch. “The team at Supermassive has built an incredible 18-year legacy of creating immersive horror experiences,” she said. “By providing the publishing and operational backing, we look forward to supporting their ongoing journey and bringing their games to even more players worldwide.”
The deal comes at a hard time for Supermassive. The UK studio has been through several rounds of job cuts in recent years, as GamesIndustry.biz notes, and Avalanche has also cut staff and closed its Liverpool studio.
RCG covered Supermassive’s most recent layoffs here: Supermassive lays off more than 70 after Directive 8020.
