Nordisk Games has assigned Avalanche Studio Group global publishing, marketing and distribution duties for all Supermassive Games titles, starting with Directive 8020, which launched earlier this year.

The deal, announced by the Copenhagen-based investment firm, keeps both subsidiaries under common ownership while consolidating their go-to-market operations. Avalanche takes over the publishing function; Supermassive keeps its creative roadmap.

What does the agreement change?

Under the new structure, the two studios will share "operational support across finance, people, and IT" while remaining "fully creatively independent" and retaining ownership of their individual portfolios and development plans.

In practice, that means Supermassive's titles — beginning with the sci-fi horror release Directive 8020 — will ride on Avalanche's publishing infrastructure and live-service operations rather than building or maintaining that capacity in-house. Each studio continues to control what it makes.

"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 Nordisk Film & Nordisk Games CEO Allan Mathson Hansen.

"A shared foundation allows resources to flow directly into game creation and new ideas. Avalanche brings proven publishing strength and operational maturity, while Supermassive brings world-class storytelling and craft. It reflects our commitment as an active owner investing in our studios," Hansen added.

Why Avalanche's publishing track record matters

Avalanche CEO Stefanía Halldórsdóttir pointed to the longevity of the studio's self-published hunting title as evidence the operation can scale. "The passion and support that two million monthly players continue to show for Hunter: Call of the Wild nine years after launch reaffirms the strength of our publishing and live-service operations," she said.

"The team at Supermassive has built an incredible 18-year legacy of creating immersive, horror experiences. By providing the publishing and operational backing, we look forward to supporting their ongoing journey and bringing their games to even more players worldwide," Halldórsdóttir added.

Nine years of sustained live-service revenue from a single title is the operational argument behind the deal: Avalanche already runs the marketing, distribution and community infrastructure that Supermassive would otherwise need to fund separately.

A long consolidation arc under Nordisk

The publishing tie-up extends a relationship Nordisk Games has built through acquisition over nearly a decade.

• Nordisk took a minority stake in Avalanche in 2017 with an investment of over $10 million, then acquired the studio outright in 2018 — its largest acquisition at the time.
• Nordisk acquired a 30% stake in Supermassive Games in 2021, making the Guildford studio the ninth games company in its portfolio and its first in the UK.

For Nordisk, the arrangement is an owner-driven efficiency play: shared back-office functions across finance, HR and IT are intended to cut duplicated overhead across its studios and direct more spend toward development.

Both studios arrive at the deal after layoffs

The operational consolidation follows a painful stretch for both companies.

Supermassive made up to 75 employees redundant in August — the third round of job cuts at the Guildford-based studio in three years. Avalanche closed its Liverpool studio in November 2025, cutting 31 jobs, and also reduced headcount at its Malmö and Stockholm locations.

Against that backdrop, the publishing agreement reads as a cost-structure decision as much as a strategic one: two leaner studios sharing one publishing spine rather than maintaining parallel operations.

What to watch next

The first test of the arrangement is already on the market. Directive 8020's commercial performance under Avalanche's publishing — and whether Supermassive's next projects reach platforms or markets its own operation hadn't prioritized — will show whether the shared-foundation model delivers.