Following a management buyout, The Chinese Room is once again an independent developer. Previous owners Sumo Group – itself a subsidiary of Tencent – let the studio walk away for an undisclosed sum, as reported by GamesIndustry.
The Chinese Room currently employs 55 people and is working on two original IPs alongside Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2. The upcoming first-person RPG will be published by Paradox Interactive, which owns the IP.
The studio’s latest title, Still Wakes the Deep, was published by Sumo Group’s Secret Mode in 2024 and received an expansion titled Siren’s Rest earlier this year. It ended up winning three BAFTA awards out of six nominations, adding to the studio’s previous laurels from titles like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Dear Esther, and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs.
The Chinese Room is not the first European developer to regain its independence recently. In 2024, Amplitude Studios executed a management buyout to split from SEGA, teaming up with Hooded Horse to publish its next title, Endless Legend 2.