Brighton studio The Chinese Room has had an interesting few years. The studio renowned for titles like Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture laid off a big chunk of its staff in 2017 before being bought by Sumo Digital in 2018. 

Following the acquisition, the studio announced it was working on games that simply didn’t seem to fit its usual wheelhouse, including Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 and adventure-platformer Little Orpheus. There was a sigh of relief, then, when the narrative horror Still Wakes the Deep was announced in 2023. Finally, the studio was going back to its narrative-led roots, and fans like me rejoiced.