Ed Daly joins The Chinese Room as studio director

Sumo Digital has appointed Ed Daly as the new studio director of The Chinese Room.

The Brighton-based studio came to prominence with its exploratory narrative games Dear Esther and the critically-acclaimed Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, as well as creating Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, and Google Daydream exclusive So Let Us Melt.

Daly – who has twenty years’ experience in running studios – is returning to games after working with interactive technology in theme parks. Joining co-founder and creative director Dan Pinchbeck, he hopes to "build a team to develop the innovative, original IP The Chinese Room is known for".

"When I heard about the astonishing games Dan is going to make, together with the support and ambition of Sumo, it was clear that this was something I really wanted to be part of," Daly said. "I couldn’t be more thrilled to be building a team to create new The Chinese Room games."

Pinchbeck added: "I’m really pleased that Ed is going to be joining The Chinese Room. He brings a wealth of experience in steering studios through the complexities of development and growth, and that’s going to be hugely important as we evolve the studio. Having him on board as we continue building the team and settle into production of our new project is critical to our ambitions for The Chinese Room – it’s going to be a hugely exciting few years!"

Sumo Digital bought The Chinese Room in a surprise move in August. The move is an important one for Sumo, which IPO late last year, with the company having previously being almost exclusively a work-for-hire studio. The acquisition will at least put the company into the space of creating and managing its own IP, though whether it chooses to self-publish or partner remains to be seen.

The acquisition becomes the fifth studio under the recently-floated Sumo Group, after the buyout of CCP Newcastle at the start of the year. TCR joins Sumo’s other operations in Sheffield, Nottingham, Newcastle, and Pune, India.

The Chinese Room is currently recruiting for a "brand new title".