The Chinese Room, the developer behind "Still Wakes The Deep," has signed a deal with Lyrical Publishing for an upcoming title

Image credit: The Chinese Room

The British independent game developer, The Chinese Room, which parted ways with Tencent-owned Sumo Group in the previous year, is collaborating with newly established publisher Lyrical Games. Lyrical Games was founded by ex-members of Take-Two's Private Division, having launched just last year.

Lyrical Games will be offering complete financing, strategic production assistance, and collaborative market strategies for an upcoming project, as mentioned in a company statement. The arrangement allows The Chinese Room to retain creative control and ownership of intellectual property, a consistent policy with Lyrical's previous commitments to its developers.

This partnership marks The Chinese Room's first new intellectual property since they became independent from Sumo Group through a management buyout in June 2025. This move followed Sumo Group's strategy shift towards focusing on service development for partners. Previously, CEO Ed Daly revealed to GamesIndustry.biz that the firm is currently developing two new IPs. The studio gained acclaim for their BAFTA-winning works, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Still Wakes the Deep. However, their latest venture, Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, did not meet financial expectations from publisher Paradox Interactive after a prolonged development phase which saw the game's separation from its original creator, Hardsuit Labs.

Ed Daly, CEO of The Chinese Room, expressed optimism about the collaboration with Lyrical Games. “This partnership empowers us to push creative boundaries while ensuring the game reaches its intended audience,” he stated.

Blake Rochkind, Head of Lyrical Games, expressed strong support for The Chinese Room's creative vision from their first meeting. He emphasized the publisher's goal to eliminate obstacles for the developer, providing the necessary resources to make this venture outstanding.