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Engadget
a day ago
- Business
- Engadget
Still Wakes the Deep developer The Chinese Room regains its independence
The Chinese Room, maker of Still Wakes the Deep , has bought back its independence. The studio will continue developing new franchises after splitting from the Sumo Group. The latter said earlier this year that it's pivoting away from original games and toward co-development work. Tencent bought the British studio Sumo for $1.27 billion in 2021. Game Developer reported that VC firm Hiro Capital facilitated the Chinese Room's independence deal. Studio head Ed Daly told the publication on Monday that the company is open to partnering with other developers moving forward. Unfortunately, the studio's good news is tainted with an all-too-familiar story. The studio confirmed to Game Developer that it will lay off an undisclosed number of employees as part of the split. "Following the divestment process, a number of roles were regrettably made redundant," a company spokesperson said. "The specifics are confidential, but the studio is currently 55 developers. This was a very difficult process as we sought a future for the studio outside of Sumo. No more layoffs are planned as the studio moves forward." The Chinese Room / Secret Mode The "modern horror classic" Still Wakes the Deep isn't all the studio is known for. The Chinese Room also made Little Orpheus , Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and the OG walking simulator, Dear Esther . The UK-based developer is also working on Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 with Paradox Interactive. The long-delayed title is scheduled to launch in October. The Chinese Room is also developing two other unannounced titles. "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 told Game Developer . "This is what we are doing and we want to carry on doing it, so we're happy to carry on in this vein."
Daily Mirror
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Still Wakes the Deep Siren's Rest review – brief DLC hints at stranger things
Siren's Rest delivers more terrifying scares in a bite-sized format, letting you pick back over the base game's chilling events with all-new context. The Chinese Room follows up its BAFTA-winning first-person horror tale with a short but scary expansion that dives even deeper into mysterious territory. Still Wakes the Deep cemented itself as one of 2024's biggest surprises for all the ways it nailed a strong sense of intrigue and horror while trapping you on an oil rig in the North Sea facing a supernatural force. It was linear and mostly guided, sure, but also did well to place you in the shoes of a blue-collar worker and everyday Joe just trying to get home – even presenting some of the most believable Scottish accents in a video game, probably ever. It shouldn't be shocking to learn then that, though a tad short, the new surprise Siren's Rest DLC brilliantly balances similar emotional beats and scares once again, just from a completely new angle. It's been over 10 years since the Beira D mysteriously went down, and you're the diver searching for answers. Getting the obvious out of the way immediately, though playable from the menu right after purchase, Siren's Rest is the type of expansion that demands knowledge of the base game. While set over a decade after the events that put Caz and crew through the worst day of their lives, most of your time is spent picking through them with your comms link and camera, swimming through the Beira D's dilapidated ruins and trying to piece together what happened. It's an interesting approach for developer The Chinese Room to take given how we as the player already know what happened. It means our new main character, Mhairi, spends a lot of time playing catch-up. And yet, the new underwater setting and her much different tone of voice help keep this adventure fresh. I was genuinely taken aback by how much getting to explore familiar locations like the mess hall, cafeteria, and manager's office from this new watery perspective overall felt. Having walked through these halls previously while dodging all manner of eldritch body horrors as Caz, Siren's Rest allowed me to properly digest these locations and appreciate them at a much slower pace. One of my only real complaints with the Still Wakes the Deep base game is just how quickly the crap hits the fan after the story begins which meant being given a brief period to get to know your crewmates before they descend into madness. Oddly it's here, when discovering their bodies and taking pictures of them to give their families on the surface for closure, that I suddenly feel like I know them more. READ MORE: The 10 best Nintendo Switch 2 games you can play right now – must-play titles to try at launch Last breath A lot of this comes down to the great voice performances, which are on par with what already came before. There are only three or four real characters (including yourself) that make up this DLC in total, but every actor does a great job at portraying a great sense of context and, when required, urgency as part of a story that took me just a little over an hour-and-a-half to complete. It's made instantly clear how much of an intelligent, passionate person Mhairi is, which only made me empathise more with her personal reasons for wanting to explore the rig. Siren's Rest doesn't do a lot to shake up the formula too much compared to the base game, although the scenarios you're placed in really do make this more of a 'swimming' simulator as opposed to a walking one The Chinese Room is known for. This means regularly having to swim through tight corridors, tubes, and more in order to reach objectives, gaining speed by using conveniently placed pipes and other ephemera whenever a quick escape through such spaces is necessary. Other than this, the only new mechanic is a cutting tool, which is often needed to remove pathways of rust that have built up on the Beira D in the years since it first went down. Fortunately, though definitely a lot shorter than the base game's 5- to 6-hour runtime, there are a few fleeting moments in Siren's Rest where time isn't working against you and you're afforded to explore. A lot of the time, this results in finding optional collectables or more bodies that may or may not explain what happened to missing members of the main cast from before – all worth it for players who really want to put together the full picture of Beira D's catastrophic events and properly roleplay as Mhairi. Being shorter does mean that the horror is more focused this time around, too, as The Chinese Room smartly plays its cards close to its chest before anything remotely resembling a stealth or action sequence shows up. Overall, I preferred this since it meant I could enjoy an unnerving atmosphere but also still take in the narrative texture the submerged location provides. Siren's Rest serves as an equally mysterious and oftentimes chilling coda to Still Wakes the Deep that brings extra weight and context to that original Beira D disaster. New mechanics like the umbilical cord tether, cutting tool, and swim boost give this shorter, more contained story a slightly different flavour, but much more impactful is the ability to explore previous horrors from a new underwater perspective at a slower yet still terrifying pace. If you're seeking answers, this brief follow-up adventure is well worth a dip. Just don't expect them to be the exact ones you went in seeking.
Scotsman
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Still Wakes the Deep returns to North Sea oil rig with new Siren's Rest DLC
Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest is set to emerge from the depths on Wednesday, June 18. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Developer The Chinese Room has a new story expansion to their North Sea set horror game Still Wakes the Deep. Titled Siren's Rest, the DLC will be released on Wednesday, June 18, exactly one year on from the release of the original game which won three BAFTA Games Awards earlier this year, including Best New Intellectual Property. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Set more than a decade following the events of Still Wakes the Deep, players will be able to return to the Beira D off the coast of Scotland to explore exactly what happened to the ill fated oil rig's crew. A screenshot of Still Wakes the Deep Siren's Rest. | Secret Mode / The Chinese Room In the official announcement, The Chinese Room say: '1986. The Beira D is now a groaning steel catacomb interred in the inky depths of the North Sea. What really happened that December day in 1975, when communications to the mainland were severed and the rig sank without a trace? What answers can be given to families who still grieve, ten years on? 'You are Mhairi. And you will find those answers. As the leader of a saturation dive to the wreck of the Beira D, you descend, a fragile light in the crushing dark. Your mission: uncover the fate of the crew and recover what remains of their passing.' Armed with a cutting torch, crowbar and camera, players will explore the remains of the underwater wreckage to piece together the crew's final moments, all while an unknown force lurks in the depths. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Written by Helldivers 2's Sagar Beroshi, the new story will be led by Lois Chimimba who plays Mhairi. Best known for her roles in Shetland, Nightsleeper and Vigil, Chimimba will be joined by Lorn Macdonald (Deadwater Fell), and David Menkin (Alan Wake 2). The game is once again directed by Kate Saxon. Lois Chimimba (on the far right) in Nightsleeper. | BBC/Euston Films/Anne Binckebanck Available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest will cost will cost £9.99 with its release set for June 18. Those purchasing via Steam will receive a 15% launch discount. To play, a copy of the base game will be required.
Forbes
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
2024's Best Horror Game ‘Still Wakes The Deep' Gets Scarier DLC
Still Wakes the Deep's follow-up, Siren's Rest, is landing on June 18. Just when you thought you were out of the water, The Chinese Room pulls you back in. Out of nowhere, the indie developer has announced and will soon release Still Wakes the Deep's DLC expansion, Siren's Rest. Still Wakes the Deep has been revived in a way that only makes the whole experience more claustrophobic and horrific, playing on its mantra of finding every single possible way to sink itself under your skin — this time, you get to relive the hellscape of the Beira D oil platform underwater. Set in 1986, 10 years after the events of Still Wakes the Deep, Siren's Rest places you in the role of sole explorer Mhairi as she hops into a diving bell in the middle of the North Sea to explore the remains of the ill-fated drilling rig. Armed with only a camera, cutting torch, and crowbar, she surveys the wreckage both underwater and in the few remaining air pockets, hoping to learn what happened to the crew — but naturally, not everything is as dead as presumed. Still Wakes the Deep, one of the top-three best indie games of 2024, was the deserved winner of three BAFTA Games Awards (second only to Astro Bot with five), thanks in part to its cast — two of its awards were for the ceremony's only both performer awards, namely lead role (Alec Newman as Cameron 'Caz' McCleary) and supporting role (Karen Dunbar as Finlay). As I said in my original review, it's a masterpiece of game acting, and to keep that spirit alive, this DLC sequel has enlisted top-tier talent to play on its biggest strength. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Siren's Rest, written by Sagar Beroshi of Helldivers 2 fame, introduces Lois Chimimba (Atomfall, Shetland, Doctor Who) as Mhairi, alongside Lorn Macdonald (Bridgerton, The Lazarus Project) and veteran voice artist David Menkin (Final Fantasy XVI, Valorant), once again overseen by SWTD's lead voice director Kate Saxon. This one's had a bad time of it. For its little faults, 'Still Wakes the Deep' was probably the best ... More horror game of last year. If you've still not played it, you're missing out on a unique experience that finds multiple ways to freak you out, especially as you're an everyman character with no weaponry. Still, you might need subtitles if you're an American (or even southern British TBH; I was luckily born and raised not far from the Scottish border). It plays to better side of The Chinese Room's unpredictable back catalog ('Dear Esther'? Amazing! 'Little Orpheous'? Nah.) I've never felt more unsafe in a believable and carefully curated environment. Take a punt on it - in "How Long To Beat" terms, think of it as 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Endgame' put together, but it's all set on an oil rig in the 1970s and you gradually watch your fellow crew members turn into the worst monsters possible. The trailer and screenshots of Siren's Rest point to plenty of 'if you know, you know' moments — undoubtedly encouraging a fresh playthrough for existing fans of Still Wakes the Deep like me — but it also unlocks yet another reason for SWTD virgins to punish themselves with mid-70s, Scottish-themed sadness, despair, and body horror. I've always been a poltroon when it comes to horror games, but I managed to complete this one with only light degrees of discomfort, and I've recommended it to everyone I know; I've even bought it as a birthday present for three people. It's not exactly the most positive experience to reward becoming another year older, but whatever. Siren's Rest lands on June 18 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. It takes about 1.5 to two hours to complete, and it costs $12.99 — well worth the money, if past experiences are to be believed. Meanwhile, if Still Wakes the Deep isn't your cup of tea, 2024's fellow, fear-filled classic Crow Country was a close second for the genre, and it's a near-perfect tribute to fifth-gen survival horror. It's also a lot less likely to force you to powerwash your trousers and/or seat of choice after playing.
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Karen Dunbar wins Bafta for Still Wakes the Deep video game role
Actor and comedian Karen Dunbar is celebrating winning a Bafta for her debut in the world of video games. The Chewin' The Fat star was named best performer in a supporting role for Still Wakes the Deep, a first-person horror set on a Scottish oil rig, at the 21st Bafta Game and fellow Scot Alec Newman won best performer in a leading role at the ceremony in London on told the audience: "I've been nominated for many a Scottish Bafta but never won. And yet here I am in the gaming community , thank you so much." Still Wakes the Deep follows offshore electrician Caz, played by Newman, and his co-worker Finlay, played by Dunbar, who are trapped on a damaged North Sea drilling platform in are pursued by mysterious monsters and have to deal with terrible weather conditions. Players must rely on stealth and puzzle-solving to stay developers - Brighton based games company The Chinese Room - cite classic horror and science fiction films and TV shows such as Annihilation, John Carpenter's The Thing and Sapphire and Steel as inspirations. The trailer for the game and its soundtrack features the Gaelic song 'Fath Mo Mhulaid A Bhith Ann' (Being Here Has Caused My Sorrow), performed by Maggie MacInnes, and the game has a Gaelic subtitles director John McCormack said this was an attempt to reflect its "uniquely Scottish story"."After listening to 'Fath Mo Mhulaid A Bhith Ann' for the first time, it was clear that the game experience wouldn't be complete without a full translation deeply connected to the history and people of Scotland," he Alec Newman is perhaps best known for playing head master Michael Byrne in the BBC series Waterloo Road from also played Paul Atreides in the 2000 mini-series of Dune, and has appeared in Outlander, Shetland and Call The Midwife.A prolific games actor, he thanked the makers of Still Wakes the Deep for giving him the role."Your attention to detail is phenomenal, and was an inspiration to me from the moment I first read for Caz McLeary," he Secret Mode said they were delighted with the awards."We're thrilled for Alec and Karen who played a huge part in bringing this wonderful game to life," the company's James Schall said. Dunbar told BBC Scotland News she was "gob-smacked" to have said she attended the awards with the hope of meeting one of her favourite actors Matt Berry - star of vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows. "Part of the surprise is I was up against Matt Berry and I love him," she said. "I felt I had to go to possibly meet him and maybe mingle a bit."When they said my name I started clapping, thinking it was Matt Berry. Then I was like 'Oh my God, it's me'."This isn't false modesty," she added. "I know when I'm good and I know when I'm not and I was good in that game."This was her first video game acting role, an experience she enjoyed and compares to working on a radio play. Sonic the Hedgehog's mum Dunbar performed remotely from Glasgow while her co-stars and director were in a studio in London and she believes her relative lack of experience in the genre may have helped free her up to play the role."I didn't have any preconceptions, I just played the character. I was ignorant," she made the move into a new genre, she is now keen to continue working in games."Just to be in that world was so exciting. To see all those new people. I had no idea before and I really liked it, especially at my age when I have done most things," she said. And while the 54-year-old admits she has never been much of a gamer, the role of Finlay has opened up new opportunities for the future."The last game I played was Sonic the Hedgehog, so I would like to to play Sonic the Hedgehog's mum," she said.
