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Wakes

Still Wakes The Deep developer The Chinese Room has seemingly made a small number of layoffs

by admin June 21, 2025

Still Wakes The Deep developer The Chinese Room appears to have made a small number of layoffs following the release of the BAFTA-winning game’s Siren’s Rest DLC this week.

A lighting artist and level designer from the studio have posted notices that they’re looking for work on LinkedIn over the past 48 hours (those posts are not linked here out of discretion, but have been verified by GamesIndustry.biz).

At a glance, around 10 staff with the studio listed as their current employer have the ‘looking for work’ label on their LinkedIn profiles – though this is not a reliable metric by itself.

When reached for clarification from GamesIndustry.biz, the studio did not confirm the number of layoffs, or directly confirm that layoffs had occurred.

It did, however, offer the following statement from studio director Ed Daly. “The Chinese Room will share news on changes for the studio in the coming weeks.”

The company is owned by Sumo Group, which in February announced it was refocusing its business on development services.

Still Wakes the Deep won three BAFTAs earlier this year, including two for performers Alec Newman and Karen Dunbar, and an award for New Intellectual Property.

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Oil rig horror game Still Wakes the Deep is going underwater in a surprise story expansion that arrives next week

by admin June 13, 2025

Still Wakes The Deep: Siren’s Rest | Announcement Trailer – YouTube

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It’s a scientifically proven fact that nothing good ever happens underwater, and that’s especially true in videogames. Subnautica, SOMA, Barotrauma, Iron Lung, the list goes on: Basically, if you’re in a videogame and you’re underwater, you’re in for a bad time. Which brings us to Siren’s Rest, the newly announced DLC for The Chinese Room’s oil rig horror game Still Wakes the Deep: That’s right, it’s going underwater.

There are spoilers of varying degrees to follow, so conduct yourselves accordingly.

First, a brief recap: Still Wakes the Deep takes place on the Beira D oil rig off the coast of Scotland, which is struck by disaster in 1975—the sort of disaster that includes an “unknowable horror” that’s somehow made its way onboard. It’s a very good game: PC Gamer’s Elie Gould said it’s “one of the best stories I’ve played through in a very long time” in their 86% review, built on “the most traumatic dialogue and voice acting I’ve ever heard in a horror game.”

“If you can bear with the emotional toll and terrifying moments, then Still Wakes the Deep is an experience that I couldn’t recommend more highly,” Elie wrote. “Its unsettling monster and horrific setting are elevated by something that’s rare in horror games: meaningful relationships with other characters.”

Siren’s Rest follows 10 years after the events of the main game. The Beira D lies at the bottom of the North Sea, and the mystery of its disappearance remains unsolved. Which is where you come in: As the leader of a saturation dive to the rig’s wreckage, you are “a fragile light in the crushing dark,” sent to “uncover the fate of the crew and recover what remains of their passing.” As the trailer makes abundantly clear, the mission does not go smoothly.

It’s great to see Still Wakes the Deep getting some post-launch love: The game was critically well received and won a few BAFTAs, but I don’t think it was a huge seller, and all too often games that aren’t immediate big hits tend to be quickly abandoned. It’s also interesting because The Chinese Room, not an especially large studio, is developing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, a much more high-profile project that’s currently set to come out in October but still doesn’t have a solid release date—and, notably, has been delayed multiple times previously, although most of that happened before TCR took over.

Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest does have a release date, though, and it’s very close: It’s set to arrive on June 18 and is available for pre-purchase now on Steam.

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June 13, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Oil rig horror Still Wakes the Deep is trading the 70s for the 80s in new Siren’s Rest story DLC

by admin June 13, 2025

The Chinese Room’s impressively choreographed oil rig horror Still Wakes the Deep is making a return, in a brand-new bit of story DLC that’ll pick up the action almost a decade after the events of the main game. It’s called Siren’s Rest, and it’s coming to all platforms on 18th June.

Still Wakes the Deep’s original story transported players back to 1975 and the wonderfully realised Beira D oil rig, located somewhere off the coast of Scotland in the churning North Sea. Eventually, it became clear that unknown forces had dubious designs on the Beira D’s crew, and thus began a very difficult day in the life of electrician Cameron McLeary.

If you haven’t played the main game, you might want to stop reading here, as introducing Siren’s Rest requires revealing the fate of Beira D and its crew. You see, Still Wakes the Deep’s story DLC time jumps forward over a decade to 1986 when a specialist diving team journeys to the site of the oil rig, now far below the waves. Armed with a cutting torch, crowbar, and camera, this new team is attempting to piece together the final moments of the Beira D, but it just might transpire those unknowable forces aren’t quite done playing just yet.

Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest trailer.Watch on YouTube

“The Beira D is now a groaning steel catacomb interred in the inky depths of the North Sea,” The Chinese Room teases in its announcement. “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?”

Siren’s Rest, which will supposedly offer around 1.5-2 hours of playtime, has a new writer in Sagar Beroshi (they previously served as narrative designer on Helldivers 2), and a brand-new cast to go with its brand-new crew. Lois Chimimba (Doctor Who, Shetland) stars as protagonist Mhairi alongside Lorn Macdonald (Bridgerton, The Lazarus Project) and David Menkin (Final Fantasy 16, Alan Wake 2), and Kate Saxon is once again on voice directing duties, which bodes well given the stellar performances in the main game.

Image credit: The Chinese Room

I wasn’t entirely sold on Still Wakes the Deep’s design when I reviewed it last year, but there was no questioning its often astonishing artistry – and I’d be lying if I said the haunting fate of the Beira D’s crew hadn’t stuck with me. So I’m genuinely intrigued to see how Siren’s Rest expands on what’s come before with its new team and some 80s swagger.

Still Wakes the Deep’s Siren’s Rest DLC launches for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Steam and Epic) next Wednesday, 18th June, and it’ll cost £9.99/€12.99/$12.99 USD.

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June 13, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest is a surprise bit of submechanophobia-inducing DLC that’s washing ashore next week

by admin June 12, 2025

There are two reasons you shouldn’t watch the trailer for Still Wakes the Deep’s just announced DLC Siren’s Rest. The first is that, well, it’ll probably spoil at least some of the events of the base game given that the expansion is set more than a decade on. The other is for the subset of you that have just the worst case of submechanophobia, because the trailer is absolutely full of man-made objects under water. You’ve been warned, don’t come crying to me if you don’t heed me, I’ll just say I told you so.

So! Where the original horror game takes place on an oil rig in 1975, Siren’s Rest stays in the same location but moves forward an entire 11 years. With a new cast, you’ll be sent to the North Sea to see what’s become of the Beira D, using tools like a cutting torch, crowbar, and camera to try and figure out what happened to the crew that manned it. “But beware,” a press release teases, “there are things lurking in the depths that even the sea cannot claim.” Scary!

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Previous Helldivers 2 narrative designer Sagar Beroshi has penned Siren’s Rest, with Lois Chimimba (Doctor Who) coming aboard as its protagonist Mhairi. She’s joined by Lorn Macdonald (Bridgerton) and David Menkin (Final Fantasy 16, Alan Wake 2) in as of yet unnamed roles.

It’s also out really soon! In less than a week in fact, as it’s due to be released June 18th, next Wednesday. Doesn’t sound too bad for something that essentially sounds like a mini sequel.

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June 12, 2025 0 comments