The Chinese Room Acquires Its Independence Back from Sumo Digital
British developer The Chinese Room has gained independence back from Sumo Digital, reports IGN. As you might recall, Sumo Digital bought the development studio nearly seven years ago, in August 2018, for an undisclosed sum.
Now, though, The Chinese Room has sought independence because Sumo Digital had recently switched to a development-for-hire model. Moreover, the studio feared Sumo would sell it to some other company. The team will be headed by current studio director Ed Daly, who received funding help from venture capital firm Hiro Capital. Here’s a statement from Daly:
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.
Spike Laurie, a partner at Hiro Capital, added:
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. We are at risk of overlooking these creative gems and letting them be sold to overseas corporations. That is a travesty for the $5.5 billion British gaming industry which has a world-renowned reputation. We need to nurture this talent and support it through difficult times, because it is one of our leading creative exports.
The Chinese Room, which recently laid off some employees, is working on two unannounced IPs. However, by far its most anticipated game is Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, which the studio took over from Hardsuit Labs on behalf of publisher Paradox Interactive. Bloodlines 2 is now set to launch in October 2025, and we expect to learn a lot more about it next month at Gamescom.
