After 15 years with Supermassive Games, the co-founder siblings, Pete and Joe Samuels, have announced they will be stepping down from the studio.
Supermassive Games has been busy lately; with the announcements of Little Nightmares 3 and yesterday’s PlayStation State of Play revealing a PS5 upgrade for Until Dawn, the studio continues down a strong path even after the conclusion of The Dark Pictures Anthology with The Devil in Me. Today, Co-Founders of Supermassive Games and siblings Pete and Joe Samuels have announced their departure from the studio.
The news breaks from Supermassive Games’ LinkedIn page, where Pete Samuels writes “After over 15 years as CEO of Supermassive Games, I have taken the very difficult decision to step down from my role and leave the business. My decision is entirely on health grounds and hasn’t been taken lightly. I am, and always will be, proud of what Joe Samuels and I founded all those years ago and filled with admiration for the Supermassive Team and the amazing things they have achieved” including the sentiment “I may be handing over the reins, but I’ll always be cheering from the sidelines.”
Supermassive issued a statement saying, “Pete and Joe – thank you for creating the Supermassive Games story that we will continue to write. Your Supermassive legacy will live on.” Interestingly, Pete Samuels announced the next CEO of Supermassive in his farewell message: Robert Henrysson, the chairman of Avalanche Studios Group (responsible for the Just Cause franchise), will take over as CEO. Henrysson says, “I’m exceptionally fired up about working with the management and all the talented people in the studio to continue developing Supermassive Games’ position as one of the leading studios in the world. We’re just getting started.”
Interestingly enough, Henrysson plans on retaining his roles as Chairman of Avalanche Studios Group and partner to Nordisk Games while signing on as CEO of Supermassive Games, but says he will “be spending my time predominantly with Supermassive from now on.” While Pete and Joe Samuels are indeed seemingly retiring from the gaming industry, their impact will continue to be felt for generations to come.
