The Chinese Room reveals how the “environment will evolve” in its upcoming 70s horror, Still Wakes the Deep

The Chinese Room has dropped a fascinating short documentary about how it is constructing the worldbuilding in its upcoming 70s horror, Still Wakes the Deep.

Lead environment artist Iain Gillespie, associate art director Laura Dodds, and lead designer Rob McLachlan discuss “how the environment will evolve over time as well as the key inspirations behind the game’s horror”.

“The period, the geographical location of the rig – these all play a crucial role in this narrative-driven horror story,” explains publisher Secret Mode. “Fans will discover how the team developed a fascination for cranes and scoured British Petroleum’s documentary archives when striving for an authentic representation of a Scottish oil rig in the 1970s.”

Still Wakes the Deep marks The Chinese Room’s return to the first-person narrative horror, picking up where its prior titles like Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, and Dear Esther left off. You play an off-shore oil rig worker “fighting for his life through a vicious storm, perilous surroundings, and the dark, freezing North Sea waters”.

“All lines of communication have been severed. All exits are gone. All that remains is to face the unknowable horror that’s come aboard,” teases the team.

Still Wakes the Deep is due to release in 2024 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, including Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.