Founded in 2008, Supermassive Games initially started with the development of downloadable content for LittleBigPlanet, a puzzle platform video game series by Media Molecule and Sony Interactive Entertainment, after signing a contract with Sony Interactive Entertainment to serve as the company’s second-party developer. In 2011, however, Supermassive Games collaborated with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to release Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, an action-adventure video game based on the recognised television series, Doctor Who. Since then, the company has released some very noteworthy video games, such as Until Dawn, an interactive drama horror video game, and more recently, The Quarry.
In October 2021, Supermassive Games and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment announced The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me, an interactive drama and survival horror video game based on The Dark Pictures Anthology franchise. With the instalment scheduled for release in November, it’s no secret that the company would already have further unannounced projects currently under development, considering the success that its recently released games, like The Quarry, have seen.
As of recent, it seems like Supermassive Games is currently working on another unannounced franchise, and this one is a multiplayer one with “dark stories,” featuring third-person combat and “compelling puzzles.” Earlier today, we came across a few recent job listings on the Supermassive Games website, one of which is for the Audio Programmer position at the company’s Guildford headquarters in the United Kingdom, the description for which reads, “It’s a great time to join Supermassive games and this brand-new IP.” It continues, “There’s a great opportunity for impact in this role. You will be joining the team as it is being put together in the initial stages of development. You will have a key role in the development of this new title.” From this, it’s certain that Supermassive Games is working on an unannounced new franchise.
Additionally, this unannounced franchise will also be based on Unreal Engine, just like The Quarry and the to-be-released The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me. “We’ve customised Unreal Engine to build a suite of powerful, world-class systems and tools that underpin our games. Now we need your help to take this to the next level,” it reads. Furthermore, this unannounced franchise may also be a multi-platform one, seemingly made for PlayStation and Xbox consoles and PC, as one of the bonus points for the candidate mentions, “Experience shipping games on console or PC. Detailed knowledge of SDK and technical requirements of Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox or high-end Windows PC.”
However, this isn’t all, as another job listing on the company’s website is for the Multiplayer Game Designer position at the company’s Guildford headquarters in the United Kingdom, the description for which reads, “Supermassive Games are seeking a Multiplayer Game Designer to work on one of our exciting new projects!” It further states, “We are looking for a highly talented, motivated and experienced person to work on new, as yet unannounced project. You will collaborate with design, engineering, art and animation teams to create varied and compelling Multiplayer systems, from combat to progression systems.” Hence, this suggests that this unannounced franchise will also feature an online multiplayer attribute to it, as well as combat and progression systems (possibly a role-playing game).
Furthermore, it seems like this unannounced franchise could also feature microtransactions, as one of the requirements from the candidate mentions, “MP Systems, Balancing, lag compensation, online economies, instancing…” While microtransactions are a rather controversial matter in the video game community, most companies do seem to be taking the direction of including them in their games, particularly online multiplayer ones, so it comes as no surprise that Supermassive Games would also be enticed to do the same.
Another job listing on the company’s website is for the Combat Designer position at the company’s Guildford headquarters in the United Kingdom, the description for which reads, “We are looking for talented Combat Designers to join the team at Supermassive, to work on new, unannounced project.” It continues, “Supporting the system and level design teams to design and create varied and compelling real-time combat encounters, whilst working closely with the programming, animation, and character teams to bring those creations to life.” Hence, this further corroborates that this unannounced franchise will also feature combat, similar to that of The Quarry. However, it’s uncertain exactly what the combat encounters would entail.
In addition to this, the combat will seemingly also be third-person one, as one of the requirements from the candidate mentions, “Knowledge of 3rd person combat systems and techniques used in modern AAA titles.” Third-person combat is a common feature in almost every game developed by Supermassive Games (The Quarry, for instance), so it’s obvious that this unannounced franchise will likely follow the same direction as its predecessors. Furthermore, the statement also confirms that this unannounced franchise is, in fact, a AAA one.
Another job listing on the company’s website is for the Senior Game Designer (Level/Gameplay) position at the company’s Guildford headquarters in the United Kingdom, the description for which reads, “We are looking for an enthusiastic Senior Game Designer to join our team and work on one of our exciting new projects! To take on a key role within the design team and be part of both setting the quality bar and the hands-on creation of exciting action orientated moment to moment gameplay.”
“This role is all about creating compelling game spaces, puzzles, and flow, including developing strong gameplay motifs, exploiting player mechanics, exploring scripted and AI character systems, level design and the creation of world manipulation puzzles,” it further states. Hence, similar to The Quarry, this unannounced franchise will also likely feature certain puzzles and challenges to progress the experience. As of recent, the company has also added tool-based puzzles to its to-be-released The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me, so this seems to be a new direction that Supermassive Games is going towards nowadays.
Furthermore, one of the bonus points for the candidate mentions, “A passion for making games driven by stories, dark stories…,” which means that this unannounced franchise will be a narrative-driven one. While the job listing doesn’t provide any details regarding the narrative itself, “dark stories,” in this case, likely refer to another interactive drama horror video game, like Until Dawn and The Quarry. However, this isn’t certain at the moment.
Lastly, another job listing on the company’s website is for the Animator (Gameplay) position at the company’s Guildford headquarters in the United Kingdom, the description for which reads, “We are seeking for an Animator with Gameplay experience to work on one of our exciting new projects!” While the job listing doesn’t provide any significant information about this unannounced franchise, it does give out some minor details as to what players can expect from it, as one of the requirements from the candidate mentions, “Creating believable key-framed performances for both humans and creatures.” This means that this unannounced franchise will feature not only human non-player characters (NPC) but also creatures, which could either be naturalistic or science-fiction ones.
At the moment, these are all the details we have about this unannounced AAA multiplayer franchise based on Unreal Engine for PC and console platforms. Supermassive Games is renowned for its cinematic and narrative-driven interactive drama horror games, like The Quarry, so this unannounced franchise will certainly have players anxious to see what the company comes out with this time. It’s worth noting that each of these job listings could be for different unannounced projects that the company is currently working on, but they do seem to be related to one another, suggesting that it’s possibly the same unannounced franchise that they refer to.
What do you think about this? Do tell us your opinions in the comments below!
Similar Reads: Gameloft Hiring For “Highly Ambitious” AAA PC/Console Game
Good job! Please give your positive feedback ☺️
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 🤔
Jace loves both video games and writing, so he thought the best career was to write about video games. He attended Full Sail University and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing. He joined Gamsual in 2022, and when not covering video game news, he is often building and strategizing in simulation and RTS games. Xbox: Alchemist5966
