The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Game Is Swapping Developers

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is swapping developers, with Sumo Nottingham planning to give up the reins of the project to an as-of-yet-undisclosed studio. The unexpected announcement stirred quite a commotion among the fandom, even as both the project's outgoing developer and publisher insisted that it wouldn't impact the future of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The asymmetrical horror game was originally released for PC and the last two PlayStation and Xbox console generations in August 2023, following a four-year development cycle at Sumo Nottingham. Its critical reception was fairly decent, with many reviewers praising The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for capturing the vibes of the seminal 1974 horror film it was based on and packaging its premise into a compelling gameplay loop. Half a year since its release, the game boasts an OpenCritic rating of 75%, based on dozens of scores, as well as more than 14,000 user recommendations on Steam.

Despite that fairly positive buzz, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is about to undergo a drastic change in the form of a developer swap. Sumo Nottingham took to Twitter on February 23 to announce the move, stating that it will soon start working on bringing its replacement up to speed before it moves on. The studio thanked both the fans and publisher Gun Interactive, which it labeled as a group of «fantastic partners,» for supporting the project.

The unexpected announcement seemingly confused the most vocal section of the player base. Many fans who took the time to comment on the development expressed their befuddlement with the move, especially because it came at a time when the game was seemingly on an upswing; The Texas Chain Saw Massacre just received a big new update in early February and is currently free-to-play for all Xbox Game Pass Core and Ultimate members. Both of those moves were meant to help it maintain player interest and grow its user base.

On the other hand, development turmoil implied by this news can ostensibly only have