Latest news with #StillWakestheDeep
Daily Mirror
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
PS Plus Extra and Premium August 2025 reveal time, predictions and when you can play the new games
The PS Plus Extra and Premium August 2025 reveal date is just around the corner, and fans are now making their predictions for what games could be coming to the service PS Plus subscribers are in for a treat with more games on the horizon, and some savvy Redditors have speculated about what might be next. Recently, PS Plus has been a goldmine for subscribers, with new offerings always seeming to be just around the corner. The PS Plus Essential August drop arrived a bit earlier than anticipated, but it was packed with new games for fans to dive into, including Lies of P and Day Z. This impressive drop followed the PS Plus July Extra and Premium announcement, which included the opportunity to download Cyberpunk 2077 on the same day. The future looks bright for subscribers, with the upcoming PS Plus Extra and Premium August drop expected to keep the momentum going. Predictions for the next batch of games are starting to surface online on the PS Plus subreddit, fans are participating in a monthly prediction tournament, with the most successful predictors sharing their forecasts. Redditor u/criticgamer88, who has accurately predicted nine previous additions to the service, suggests that Fort Solis, Layers of Fear and Still Wakes the Deep could be part of the next Extra and Premium drop. Meanwhile, u/aristotlepoetics remains convinced that Cocoon, along with Final Fantasy 16 and Bear and Breakfast, will soon join the service. There's no doubt that gamers would be thrilled if any of these titles were added to the service, particularly with Fort Solis making waves due to its expansive narrative and the concise, high-quality gameplay of Still Wakes the Deep deserving more attention. However, we won't know what's in store until the official announcement is made. So when exactly can we anticipate this big reveal? Here's everything you need to know about the PS Plus Extra and Premium August reveal date. READ MORE: Everything announced at Nintendo Direct Indie World, including Content Warning and UFO 50 READ MORE: Everything in the Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 4 Battle Pass, from Power Rangers to Halo crossovers Introducing All Out Gaming Introducing All Out Gaming, a dedicated gaming brand providing the best gaming news, reviews, previews, interviews and more! Make sure you don't miss out on our latest high-quality videos on YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, where we'll be posting our latest reviews, previews, interviews, and live streams! You can also subscribe to our free All Out Gaming newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories. PS Plus Extra and Premium August reveal date The PS Plus Extra and Premium August reveal date is scheduled for Wednesday, August 13 at 8.30am PDT / 11.30am EDT / 4.30pm BST. This is because the PS Plus games for any given month are always unveiled on the second Wednesday, with their release occurring on the following Tuesday, which in this case is Tuesday, August 19. Expectations are high for another stellar month for the service in August. While we can't always anticipate releases as large as Cyberpunk 2077, we're still hopeful for something impressive. In the meantime, there's plenty to explore in Night City, so dive right in.
Engadget
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Video Games Weekly: Censorship, shrinkage and a Subnautica scandal
Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday or Tuesday, broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, Jess Conditt, a reporter who's covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget. Please enjoy — and I'll see you next week. This week, I'm fried. Maybe it's the plodding and ever-present crumbling of society and human decency, or maybe it's because Love Island USA just ended so I'm feeling extra listless. It's a familiar summer sensation, but this year everything is exaggerated and extra tense, the stakes of every action seem higher, and instead of melting into the warmth of the season with a popsicle and a smile, I often find myself frozen and numb. I am the popsicle, coo coo ca choo. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I'm not sure exactly what I'm trying to convey here, but I think it's clear that I shouldn't be writing anything too serious at the moment. I'm working on a few reports and trying to keep my composure amid the chaos, and all the while, the video game headlines keep rolling on. I've included a few more than usual this week, as penance for my popsicle state. The news UK studio The Chinese Room, creator of Still Wakes the Deep and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, is independent once again. The Chinese Room leaders completed a management buyout with help from VC firm Hiro Capital to fully split the studio from Tencent subsidiary Sumo Digital, which acquired it in 2018. A number of people were laid off as part of the transition and the studio is left with a total of 55 employees. The Chinese Room is still working on Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 for Paradox Interactive, and it also has original projects in development. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Still Wakes the Deep was one of my absolute favorite games of 2024. Whether you're a fan of beautiful paranormal horror or you're just really into oil rigs, give it a go. Vice's owner, Savage Ventures, doesn't want you to read this story . Or this one . Vice removed two articles about Steam's new ban on certain 'adult-only' content and the organization that pushed for the change, Collective Shout, which has the support of prominent anti-pornography groups with conservative religious foundations. The stories were written by contributor Ana Valens, who said the removals were 'due to concerns about the controversial subject matter — not journalistic complaints.' Valens has vowed to never write for Vice again and a handful of reporters there have resigned in solidarity . Censoring stories about censorship is certainly a choice, Vice. The home of Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology, Supermassive Games, is laying off 36 people, restructuring its team and delaying one of its projects into 2026. A statement from the studio says the decisions were in response to the video game industry's 'challenging and ever-evolving environment.' It's estimated that Supermassive had more than 300 employees before the layoffs. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Directive 8020, the fifth installment in the Dark Pictures Anthology, is now due to come out in the first half of 2026, rather than this fall. Honestly, I'm not surprised to hear Supermassive needs more time to work on Directive 8020. I watched Engadget UK bureau chief Mat Smith play the demo at Summer Game Fest in June, and while it looked great, we were both surprised by how short and non-interactive the segment was. He summed up this feeling in his preview with the line, 'Finally, I got to play (but only for a few minutes).' Supermassive is also working on Little Nightmares III, a series that it took over from Tarsier Studios. Tarsier created Little Nightmares and its sequel, but lost the rights to the IP when the team was acquired by a subsidiary of Embracer Group in 2019. Series publisher Bandai Namco kept the Little Nightmares brand and commissioned Supermassive to build the third game, while Tarsier is working on its own project, Reanimal . It makes sense that Supermassive would prioritize Little Nightmares III in order to fulfill its obligations with Bandai. The game has already been delayed once, and it's set to hit PC and consoles on October 10. I still have high hopes for FBC: Firebreak to be the Left 4 Dead revival we've always wanted, but fact is, it's not quite there yet . Remedy Entertainment is aware of this hard truth and has a plan to fix it. The studio laid out its pipeline for making FBC: Firebreak easier to jump into, more fun to play and less confusing overall, with most major changes coming in an update this winter. PCGamesN published an interview with Counter-Strike co-creator Minh Le, who left Valve years ago to try out independent development. One sentiment stuck out to me. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 'They didn't force me out or anything,' Le told PCGamesN. 'But a part of me kind of regrets it. Looking back, my decision to leave Valve was, financially, kind of a poor decision. If I had stayed with Valve, I would have been able to retire by now.' It's not presented as an indictment of Valve, but I find it notable that Le describes the studio as a place to retire, rather than a space to innovate and create the next generation of video games. At this rate, Valve will never outrun its reputation as the studio where talented game developers go to die (professionally speaking). But, hey, at least they're not getting laid off en masse. Which, unfortunately, brings us to the next headline. Cyberpunk 2077, Sea of Thieves and Dune: Awakening support studio Virtuos is laying off 270 developers, which is about seven percent of its staff. Virtuos is currently best known as the studio behind The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered alongside Bethesda, and it has more than 4,000 employees across Asia, Europe and North America. The cuts affect developers in Asia and Europe, with 'fewer than 10' in France, where work on Oblivion Remastered was headquartered. Make sure to pin this one on your calendar. Saber Interactive is making Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, a first-person, action-survival horror game that features actor Doug Bradley as Pinhead for the first time in nearly 20 years. Barker himself provided input on the story, too. It's coming to PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X/S, with no release date yet. "The Hellraiser universe is defined by its unflinching exploration of pain, pleasure, and the thin and terrifying line that separates the two," a description from Saber Interactive reads. "That essence is at the heart of our game." Game Developer reporter Chris Kerr spoke with a number of employees at Zenimax who are still reeling from the layoffs that Microsoft enacted in early July . The vibes there sound pretty terrible. 'This carcass of workers that remains is somehow supposed to keep shipping award-winning games," one senior QA tester told Kerr. The developer continued, 'Microsoft just took everything that could have been great about the culture and collaboration and decimated it. Morale is terrible. It's grotesque. People are stressed. They're crying.' When Xbox isn't firing thousands of employees in one blow, it's quietly laying the groundwork for the future of video game distribution. An update for Xbox Insiders this week introduces cross-platform cloud support, bringing your cloud library and play history to the Xbox PC app. This means you can access cloud activity on an Xbox console, PC or Windows handheld, and seamlessly play cloud games across devices. This is just how video games are going to work in the coming decades, and it's interesting to watch our future slowly roll out in blog posts and software updates. Did you miss all of the mess around Subnautica 2 last week? Or, more accurately, this past month? To quickly summarize, Subnautica publisher Krafton is being sued by the series creators after it fired them and then delayed their game, allegedly sabotaging a $250 million bonus payout due to developers. To not-quickly summarize, see my complete breakdown of the drama . I don't know who else needs a little levity in their life right now, but I certainly do. Thankfully, the stop-motion show My Melody & Kuromi is coming to Netflix on July 24, and there's already an adorable tie-in music video by LE SSERAFIM to enjoy. Zen out, watch all of the Sanrio sweetness and finally settle the debate: Are you more of a Kuromi or a My Melody? Additional reading Have a tip for Jessica? You can reach her by email, Bluesky or send a message to @jesscon.96 to chat confidentially on Signal.
Engadget
22-07-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Still Wakes the Deep developer The Chinese Room regains its independence
The Chinese Room, maker of Still Wakes the Deep , has bought back its independence. The studio will continue developing new franchises after splitting from the Sumo Group. The latter said earlier this year that it's pivoting away from original games and toward co-development work. Tencent bought the British studio Sumo for $1.27 billion in 2021. Game Developer reported that VC firm Hiro Capital facilitated the Chinese Room's independence deal. Studio head Ed Daly told the publication on Monday that the company is open to partnering with other developers moving forward. Unfortunately, the studio's good news is tainted with an all-too-familiar story. The studio confirmed to Game Developer that it will lay off an undisclosed number of employees as part of the split. "Following the divestment process, a number of roles were regrettably made redundant," a company spokesperson said. "The specifics are confidential, but the studio is currently 55 developers. This was a very difficult process as we sought a future for the studio outside of Sumo. No more layoffs are planned as the studio moves forward." The Chinese Room / Secret Mode The "modern horror classic" Still Wakes the Deep isn't all the studio is known for. The Chinese Room also made Little Orpheus , Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and the OG walking simulator, Dear Esther . The UK-based developer is also working on Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 with Paradox Interactive. The long-delayed title is scheduled to launch in October. The Chinese Room is also developing two other unannounced titles. "This management buyout allows us to scratch the creative itch of continuing to work on new, original intellectual property but also to partner with other studios on other projects when they fit in with our vision," Daly told Game Developer . "This is what we are doing and we want to carry on doing it, so we're happy to carry on in this vein."
Daily Mirror
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Still Wakes the Deep Siren's Rest review – brief DLC hints at stranger things
Siren's Rest delivers more terrifying scares in a bite-sized format, letting you pick back over the base game's chilling events with all-new context. The Chinese Room follows up its BAFTA-winning first-person horror tale with a short but scary expansion that dives even deeper into mysterious territory. Still Wakes the Deep cemented itself as one of 2024's biggest surprises for all the ways it nailed a strong sense of intrigue and horror while trapping you on an oil rig in the North Sea facing a supernatural force. It was linear and mostly guided, sure, but also did well to place you in the shoes of a blue-collar worker and everyday Joe just trying to get home – even presenting some of the most believable Scottish accents in a video game, probably ever. It shouldn't be shocking to learn then that, though a tad short, the new surprise Siren's Rest DLC brilliantly balances similar emotional beats and scares once again, just from a completely new angle. It's been over 10 years since the Beira D mysteriously went down, and you're the diver searching for answers. Getting the obvious out of the way immediately, though playable from the menu right after purchase, Siren's Rest is the type of expansion that demands knowledge of the base game. While set over a decade after the events that put Caz and crew through the worst day of their lives, most of your time is spent picking through them with your comms link and camera, swimming through the Beira D's dilapidated ruins and trying to piece together what happened. It's an interesting approach for developer The Chinese Room to take given how we as the player already know what happened. It means our new main character, Mhairi, spends a lot of time playing catch-up. And yet, the new underwater setting and her much different tone of voice help keep this adventure fresh. I was genuinely taken aback by how much getting to explore familiar locations like the mess hall, cafeteria, and manager's office from this new watery perspective overall felt. Having walked through these halls previously while dodging all manner of eldritch body horrors as Caz, Siren's Rest allowed me to properly digest these locations and appreciate them at a much slower pace. One of my only real complaints with the Still Wakes the Deep base game is just how quickly the crap hits the fan after the story begins which meant being given a brief period to get to know your crewmates before they descend into madness. Oddly it's here, when discovering their bodies and taking pictures of them to give their families on the surface for closure, that I suddenly feel like I know them more. READ MORE: The 10 best Nintendo Switch 2 games you can play right now – must-play titles to try at launch Last breath A lot of this comes down to the great voice performances, which are on par with what already came before. There are only three or four real characters (including yourself) that make up this DLC in total, but every actor does a great job at portraying a great sense of context and, when required, urgency as part of a story that took me just a little over an hour-and-a-half to complete. It's made instantly clear how much of an intelligent, passionate person Mhairi is, which only made me empathise more with her personal reasons for wanting to explore the rig. Siren's Rest doesn't do a lot to shake up the formula too much compared to the base game, although the scenarios you're placed in really do make this more of a 'swimming' simulator as opposed to a walking one The Chinese Room is known for. This means regularly having to swim through tight corridors, tubes, and more in order to reach objectives, gaining speed by using conveniently placed pipes and other ephemera whenever a quick escape through such spaces is necessary. Other than this, the only new mechanic is a cutting tool, which is often needed to remove pathways of rust that have built up on the Beira D in the years since it first went down. Fortunately, though definitely a lot shorter than the base game's 5- to 6-hour runtime, there are a few fleeting moments in Siren's Rest where time isn't working against you and you're afforded to explore. A lot of the time, this results in finding optional collectables or more bodies that may or may not explain what happened to missing members of the main cast from before – all worth it for players who really want to put together the full picture of Beira D's catastrophic events and properly roleplay as Mhairi. Being shorter does mean that the horror is more focused this time around, too, as The Chinese Room smartly plays its cards close to its chest before anything remotely resembling a stealth or action sequence shows up. Overall, I preferred this since it meant I could enjoy an unnerving atmosphere but also still take in the narrative texture the submerged location provides. Siren's Rest serves as an equally mysterious and oftentimes chilling coda to Still Wakes the Deep that brings extra weight and context to that original Beira D disaster. New mechanics like the umbilical cord tether, cutting tool, and swim boost give this shorter, more contained story a slightly different flavour, but much more impactful is the ability to explore previous horrors from a new underwater perspective at a slower yet still terrifying pace. If you're seeking answers, this brief follow-up adventure is well worth a dip. Just don't expect them to be the exact ones you went in seeking.
Tom's Guide
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
My favorite horror game of 2024 just got a new DLC — but Siren's Rest drifts too far from what made Still Wakes the Deep terrifying
Still Wakes the Deep earned a spot on our best games of 2024 list, specifically in the horror category (sorry, Silent Hill 2). It hits all the right horror notes: intense scares, visceral gore, and voice performances that take the experience to another level. So naturally, when I heard about Siren's Rest, the compelling new DLC, I was ready to dive in (literally). I want to say that I loved it, that I had a great experience, and that it's a DLC I certainly won't forget anytime soon. But unfortunately, Siren's Rest didn't feel as impactful as I had hoped, and since I enjoyed the base game so much, I have to admit I felt a bit gutted. That said, Siren's Rest is still a solid DLC and worth playing if you're a fan of the base game and want something short and sweet to enjoy one evening. This time, the story takes place below the surface, where you explore the wreckage of the Beira D investigation-style, and it's certainly a compelling experience. From swimming through decaying corridors to collecting mementos of the dead to return to their families, there are several intriguing aspects to this DLC. But I can't help feeling its overall purpose fails to fully shine through. Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest: $11 @ SteamStill Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest is a 2‑hour narrative DLC set in 1986. You play as Mhairi, leading a deep‑sea saturation dive into the Beira D wreckage to recover remains, investigate the crew's fate, and uncover answers in haunting underwater ruins. The best part of Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest is its storytelling style, and I'm sure fans of investigative games will definitely enjoy piecing together clues and exploring the sunken oil rig filled with secrets. You're essentially solving a mystery, even though you already know the outcome. As you descend into the depths, you confront not only the physical challenges of navigating the wreckage but also psychological ones, including paranoia and the unreliability of memory. Set in 1986, over a decade after the events of the original game, you assume the role of Mhairi, the leader of a saturation dive team who is tasked with exploring the sunken remains of the Beira D oil rig in the North Sea. The mission aims to uncover the fate of the crew and recover what remains of their passing. As you descend into the depths, you confront not only the physical challenges of navigating the wreckage but also psychological ones, including thalassophobia, paranoia, and the unreliability of memory. In this DLC, you engage in forensic exploration which means collecting mementos, photographing human remains, and piecing together the crew's final moments. This type of gameplay is actually very compelling, and you almost feel like a detective breaking into parts of the wreckage, swimming through the corridors into different rooms, and piecing together clues about what happened to the crew. Communication with a diving partner and a dive support supervisor is maintained through fragile 1986 undersea technology, meaning part of the story is told through their conversations, especially when audio logs from the ship are recovered. Tools such as a cutting arc, undersea flares, and a crowbar are essential for accessing sealed areas, while a deep-sea camera aids in documenting findings. This is pretty much all the gear you have, and although using the cutting arc to remove rust on doors, and plying cabinets open with the crowbar gets a little repetitive (much like the gameplay mechanics in the base game), it's still a fun experience. Even more so when cutting open a door causes the entire wreckage to groan like a steel catacomb, and I had to pause every time out of fear of being crushed by falling debris. Thankfully, the game doesn't require you to swim the entire time. While constant swimming might've heightened the tension for anyone with thalassophobia or claustrophobia, the story occasionally gives you a break by letting you explore the wreckage on foot when you find an air pocket. These moments put you back in the familiar boots of the base game's protagonist, Caz, who navigated the dark corridors in eerie silence. This time, though, Mhairi is searching for the ship's main audio log, which holds crucial clues about what really happened. During these moments you have to detach the umbilical cord, cutting any type of communication with your team. It's tense stuff. Horror is my favorite genre, and that's one reason I loved Still Wakes the Deep so much. It felt like 'The Thing' meets 'Dead Space,' with a bit of 'Callisto Protocol' thrown in, and it stood out as something genuinely unique in a crowded horror market. Hence my disappointment when Siren's Rest didn't manage to scare me. Don't get me wrong, Siren's Rest has horror elements: you explore decaying rooms with only a flashlight, stumble across eerie remains, and dive deeper into the wreckage knowing something's waiting. But that's really all there is, and the 'true' horror doesn't kick in until the last twenty minutes of gameplay. Even then, it feels forced. The 'true' horror doesn't kick in until the last twenty minutes of gameplay. Even then, it feels forced. Still Wakes the Deep was terrifying because we had no idea what the threat was, or how we could possibly escape the rig. You were essentially helpless — running, hiding, and trying to survive while the creature's grotesque groans echoed through tight corridors. But in Siren's Rest, you're fully submerged, which means there's far less reliance on sound. It's mostly visual now, and while the visuals are impressive, they're just not enough to make this feel like a real horror experience. Siren's Rest is a genuinely intriguing DLC, and I still had a good time with it. But I can't help feeling that this particular story comes off as unnecessary. While it's great finding clues and exploring a wreckage that's practically falling apart, the element of mystery feels dulled, because we already know what happened. There's not all that much to uncover. The one narrative thread that does make sense is the protagonist's motive, but that's revealed later on, meaning I can't get into it here without spoiling anything. Instead, I feel like this DLC could've still taken the diving concept but create a new story not related to the events of the Beira D. Maybe a group of divers explore another random wreckage in a completely different location, only to uncover the mysterious, otherworldly entity, very much still thriving at the bottom of the North Sea. That would've allowed the story to expand the universe without relying on a tale that already had a strong conclusion. That said, I can't deny that Siren's Rest is a fun experience with a cool concept. It only took me around two hours to complete, so it's perfect for a one-sitting session on a quiet evening. Despite its lack of scares and its questionable necessity, Siren's Rest doesn't forget the soul of the base game, and for anyone who endured the chaos of the Beira D, it still offers something worth diving into.
