Still Wakes the Deep Studio The Chinese Room Announces Management Buyout, Gaining Independence from Sumo Digital

The Chinese Room, the acclaimed British indie studio behind last year’s oil rig horror game Still Wakes the Deep, has now officially cut ties with its former parent company Sumo Digital.

The studio, which also developed indie darlings Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, has now completed a management buyout, a spokesperson for The Chinese Room has confirmed to IGN.

Today’s news follows an uncertain few months for the Brighton-based studio, after Sumo’s previous announcement it would be refocusing its efforts “exclusively on development services for partners”, rather than continuing its work on original franchises.

In a message to press today, The Chinese Room said it had looked “increasingly likely” the company would be sold off by Sumo Digital, likely to a private equity firm or another overseas buyer — Sumo itself having been acquired by Chinese giant Tencent in 2018.

Instead, The Chinese Room will now be run as an indepedent entity headed up by studio director Ed Daly, following a deal facilitated by venture capital firm Hiro Capital.

“This management buyout allows us to scratch the creative itch of continuing to work on new, original intellectual property, but also to partner with other studios on other projects when they fit in with our vision,” Daly said. “This is what we are doing and we want to carry on doing it, so we’re happy to carry on in this vein.”

Following the launch of Still Wakes the Deep and last month’s DLC pack Siren’s Rest, The Chinese Room now has two new IPs in the works, it was revealed today.

Next to launch, however, will be the long-gestating Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, set to be published by Paradox Interactive this coming October.

“The Chinese Room is a huge British success story that has rightly been recognised as a unique creative force capable of competing on the world stage,” said Spike Laurie, a partner at Hiro Capital. “From hiring British people to making games set in the UK, they’ve been one of our foremost creative studios and now they are once again in charge of their own destiny while remaining British.

“We are at risk of overlooking these creative gems and letting them be sold to overseas corporations,” Laurie continued. “That is a travesty for the $5.5 billion British gaming industry which has a world-renowned reputation. We need to nurture this talent and support it through difficult times, because it is one of our leading creative exports.”

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social