The Chinese Room announced today that it is launching as an independent development studio, following a buyout by its management with the help of Hiro Capital. The developer now has exclusively UK ownership and runs under the leadership of studio director Ed Daly. According to Daly, it plans to use its new independence to continue developing new IP and partnering with other studios.
The Chinese Room’s works include Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Still Wakes the Deep. Its next project is the infamous Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, long in development hell, which it took over from Hardsuit Labs in 2021 with Paradox Interactive. It’s also reportedly working on two other future projects.
Daly said, “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. This is what we are doing and we want to carry on doing it, so we’re happy to carry on in this vein.”
Former owner Sumo Digital acquired The Chinese Room in 2018, and was itself acquired by Tencent in 2022. Earlier this year, its co-founders, including CEO Carl Cavers, left as part of a leadership change. The studio also said in April that it would “focus Sumo Digital exclusively on development services for partners” rather than create its own IP.
Spike Laurie, Hiro Capital partner, said in a statement, “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. 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.”