Nordisk Games Puts Avalanche in Charge of Publishing Supermassive's Directive 8020

Nordisk Games has drawn two of its own studios closer together, putting Avalanche Studios Group in charge of global publishing, marketing and distribution for Supermassive Games' titles, starting with the survival-horror thriller Directive 8020. The Danish holding company announced the arrangement on October 8, calling it the first step in a long-term collaboration between two studios it owns outright.

A Shared Foundation, Not a Merger

Nordisk is careful to frame this as a structural shift rather than a buyout or a studio absorbing another. Both Avalanche and Supermassive keep full creative independence under the deal, retaining complete ownership of their games, their creative direction and their own development roadmaps. What changes is the back office: publishing, marketing and distribution for Supermassive's output now runs through Avalanche, and the two studios will also share operational support across finance, people and IT.

That split matters to players mainly in the credits and the storefront listings. Supermassive still builds the games it builds. Avalanche now decides how they reach shelves and screens.

Why Directive 8020 Is the Test Case

Directive 8020 is an unusual choice to launch a publishing handover, because it is not a new game. Supermassive released the sci-fi horror title on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S back on May 12, 2026, self-publishing it as the crew of the colony ship Cassiopeia discovers that a crash landing on Tau Ceti f is only the start of their problems. Handing an already-launched game to a new publisher mid-life, rather than lining up a partner before a game ships, suggests Nordisk is treating this as an ongoing live-service transition rather than a one-off release deal.

Nordisk's own announcement calls Directive 8020 "the first game in a long-term collaboration," language that points toward Avalanche picking up Supermassive's future titles as well, including further entries in its Dark Pictures Anthology lineage and its recently announced The Casting of Frank Stone follow-up work.

Avalanche's Pitch: A Nine-Year Live Game

Avalanche's case for taking on the job rests heavily on its own track record running a game for the long haul. Stefanía Halldórsdóttir, Avalanche's CEO, pointed to theHunter: Call of the Wild, the open-world hunting sim her studio has kept updated for nearly a decade, as evidence her team knows how to keep a release relevant long after launch day.

• theHunter: Call of the Wild shipped in 2017 and still draws roughly 2 million monthly players, according to Halldórsdóttir.
• Avalanche is best known as a developer, through the Just Cause series, but has increasingly leaned on in-house publishing through its Systemic Reaction label.
• Supermassive, by contrast, has historically self-published its narrative horror catalogue, including the Dark Pictures Anthology and Until Dawn.

One Owner, Two Studios Under Pressure

The partnership also lands against a rougher backdrop for both sides of it. Nordisk Film, through its Nordisk Games division, has owned Avalanche outright since 2018 and took full control of Supermassive in 2022 after first buying a minority stake the year before. Both studios have absorbed layoffs this year, and Avalanche closed its Liverpool office. Centralizing finance, people and IT support across the two is as much a cost-saving move as a creative one, even as Nordisk insists the goal is giving both teams more room to focus on games rather than overhead.

“This is about setting our studios up for sustainable, long-term success. Avalanche brings proven publishing strength and operational maturity, while Supermassive brings world-class storytelling and craft.”Allan Mathson Hansen, CEO of Nordisk Film & Nordisk Games

What Happens Next for Supermassive

Supermassive says it is continuing development across its slate and its work with outside partners, and nothing in the announcement suggests any of its games are moving away from PlayStation, Xbox or PC. For now the practical change is narrow: Avalanche takes over how Directive 8020 is marketed, sold and supported going forward. Whether that extends to Supermassive's next horror project, or becomes the template Nordisk applies across more of its roster, is the detail worth watching as the partnership moves past its first title.