Until Dawn studio CEO leaves after Directive 8020

Robert Henrysson has stepped down as CEO of Supermassive Games, leaving the UK horror studio after less than three years in charge. His exit lands roughly six weeks after the studio shipped its latest title, Directive 8020, and he is also ending his tenure at parent company Nordisk Games. No successor has been named.

As reported by Game Developer, Henrysson announced the move on LinkedIn. He joined Nordisk Games as a partner in August 2022, then took on the Supermassive chief executive role in January 2024 — making this a short, eventful run at the top of a studio many UAE players know through its narrative-driven games.

Who is leaving and when

Henrysson is departing both Supermassive Games and Nordisk Games, the company that fully acquired the studio in 2022. He served as CEO from January 2024 until this June 2026 announcement — under three years, with most of that period spanning a turbulent stretch for the studio and the wider industry.

In his LinkedIn post, Henrysson framed his time at the studio around steering it through a rough patch:

As the CEO of Supermassive Games, I was honoured to guide the studio through intense industry change, broadening its client base and establishing a culture of consistent quality across all aspects of the game development process.

Robert Henrysson, Departing CEO, Supermassive Games

He added: “Leading a studio is never a one-man job—it is the entire team’s effort. Our commitment to continuous improvement was, and continues to be, central to everything we do. To everyone at Supermassive Games, I am so grateful for everything I’ve learnt and experienced with all of you.”

How Directive 8020 fits into this

Directive 8020 is the studio’s latest project, a sci-fi title that launched on 26 May 2026. The source ties its development to a difficult run: the game arrived after a delay that coincided with layoffs at the studio. Henrysson’s exit follows about six weeks after that release.

The source does not say Directive 8020 underperformed, and no sales or reception figures are given. Nor does it state that the launch caused the departure — the link here is timing, not a stated cause. What’s clear is that the studio shipped a major game, cut staff around its delay, and then lost its chief executive within weeks. That’s a familiar shape in 2026’s industry, where studios behind well-reviewed work have still faced cuts, as Obsidian found when strong reviews didn’t translate to sales.

Who owns Supermassive Games

Supermassive Games has been fully owned by Nordisk Games since its 2022 acquisition. Nordisk Games operates as a subsidiary of the Nordic media conglomerate Egmont Group, which puts the studio inside a larger corporate structure instead of running independently.

That ownership matters for what comes next. A CEO exit at an independently held studio is one thing; a CEO leaving both the studio and its investor parent points to a reset at the ownership level too. The source doesn’t spell out whether the move was voluntary or prompted by Nordisk Games — that remains unconfirmed.

Why this matters for the studio’s future

Supermassive is one of the better-known UK studios in the narrative-horror space, and leadership churn at a studio with this profile is worth watching. It built its name on Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology — choice-driven horror games that found a steady audience on PlayStation and PC, platforms widely available across the region.

With no named successor and no public reason for the departure, the studio’s direction is the open question. The catalogue and the recently launched Directive 8020 remain, but who steers the next project — and what shape the team takes after layoffs — is not yet known. For players who’ve spent dozens of hours across the studio’s branching horror stories, that uncertainty is the part worth keeping an eye on.