Why The Chinese Room Left Secret Mode: Still Wakes the Deep Devs Bet Big on Indie

The Chinese Room, the studio behind Still Wakes the Deep, has officially parted ways with publisher Secret Mode to operate independently again. After nearly three fruitful years under publisher Paradox Interactive’s umbrella, the beloved British developer is reclaiming its original creative autonomy and shaking up the future of story-rich indie games in the process.

The Breakaway: A Dive Back Into Independence

2025 is proving to be a pivotal year for narrative-driven games, and at the centre of it is The Chinese Room. Known for atmospheric titles like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, the studio recently made waves with its haunting first-person thriller Still Wakes the Deep. Now, just weeks after that launch, the team has announced it’s going solo in an effort to “breathe freely” again by focusing on exclusively original ideas rather than publisher-driven projects.

In a public statement, The Chinese Room confirmed that it had exited under the wings of Secret Mode, the publishing label of Sumo Group. This breakup seems amicable and strategic, neither a dramatic divorce nor an act of desperation. Instead, the devs are chasing what they’re known for: brooding environments, first-person storytelling, and experimental psychological horror.

Co-founder and studio director Dan Pinchbeck reflected on the shift, noting they’re “keen to refocus on the kinds of projects [they] do best,” referring to unique indie horror and narrative exploration games that don’t quite fit within a larger corporate framework. It also explains their previous reduction in scale: smaller teams working freely without the expectation of pumping out blockbuster franchises for years on end.

What Happens to Still Wakes the Deep (And What’s Next)?

Still Wakes the Deep launched with favourable reviews earlier this summer, offering a taut horror experience set on a decaying oil rig off the coast of Scotland. Featuring gorgeous visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5 and excellent voice acting, it became an indie hit almost overnight, thanks to Game Pass exposure and strong word-of-mouth appeal among narrative game lovers.

But what happens now, post-independence? According to the studio’s announcement, Still Wakes the Deep will remain fully supported and published by Secret Mode, meaning it will stay available across platforms, including Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. So players don’t need to worry about its future. However, things will shift dramatically for future titles.

With newfound autonomy, The Chinese Room will be directing all future development efforts toward original IPs, distancing itself from externally directed collaborations like its short-lived involvement with Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, which it stepped back from earlier this year. That rebooted project is now fully under the control of Hardsuit Labs.

This split allows the studio to experiment again, potentially revisiting the genre-blurring experiences it was known for in its early days. Want another walking simulator with folk-horror vibes? Or perhaps a brand-new surreal landscape to lose yourself in for 3–4 eerie hours? That’s exactly where The Chinese Room is now heading.

So, what form can we expect this indie “restart” to take? Pinchbeck teases that their next game is already in “early shaping stages”, though it might take some time before it’s ready to show. With smaller scale often comes longer gestation, but when done right, the result often ends up being unforgettable, as their earlier work has proven.

The studio’s decision to reclaim independence speaks volumes about today’s evolving gaming ecosystem. We’re seeing a growing trend: mid-size teams choosing creative control over commercial certainty. That shift often benefits players most of all, as it leads to fresher, riskier, and more personal projects.

For now, The Chinese Room is doing what it has always done best: brooding quietly, crafting layered experiences, and laying low in development while we wait for the next uniquely unsettling masterpiece. And after Still Wakes the Deep, they’ve certainly earned our patience.