The Chinese Room is Now Independent From Sumo Digital, Has Two New IPs in Development

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Independent game developer, The Chinese Room, has confirmed its separation from its parent company, Sumo Digital. As reported by IGN, The Chinese Room’s new leadership will be under the guidance of Ed Daly, who has been serving as the studio’s director. The transaction was managed by Hiro Capital, a venture capital firm.

Spike Laurie, a partner at Hiro Capital, praised The Chinese Room as a significant British achievement that deserves global recognition for its distinct creativity. He mentioned that the studio employs Britons and creates games based on the UK, making it one of our leading creative entities. Now, with control over their own direction, they continue to maintain their British identity.

Laurie emphasized, ‘We could unintentionally miss out on these precious artistic treasures, allowing them to be acquired by foreign corporations instead.’ This, Laurie stated, is a great injustice for the $5.5 billion British gaming industry, renowned globally. We should foster and sustain this talent during hardships because it represents one of our key creative exports.

The studio confirmed that Sumo Digital was considering selling The Chinese Room to a private investment group. Additionally, it’s important to mention that the company’s previous owner had previously declared they would no longer be developing original franchises. Instead, their new focus will be solely on providing development services to external partners.

With this management buyout, we can pursue the urge to develop fresh, unique ideas for intellectual property while also collaborating with other studios on projects that align with our vision,” Daly explained. “In essence, this is what we’ve been doing and will continue to do, which makes us excited about our future.

In addition to this update, The Chinese Room has also disclosed that they are currently developing two distinct new intellectual properties. It’s important to mention that these projects are not connected to “Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2”, as the publication of which is being managed by Paradox Interactive separately.

Back in 2018, Sumo Digital took over The Chinese Room. The acquisition came about due to The Chinese Room’s challenging decision to close operations in 2017.

In our assessment, the fundamental game earned a rating of 7/10. We appreciated its captivating narrative and character development, both well-written and voiced, yet pointed out that it didn’t fully utilize its backdrop and was somewhat straightforward and unsophisticated. Regarding Siren’s Curse, we awarded it a 5/10 rating.

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2025-07-21 17:41