The Chinese Room, developer of the game "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture," is in trouble right now, as a majority of its development staff got laid off.
Dan Pinchbeck, co-founder of the game studio, explained that the numerous financial issues that the company was having, his health issues, and the stress of post-game development for the staff have taken their toll. This was why they had to layoff some of their staff, mostly those who worked on "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture."
Pinchbeck, however, clarified that it will not be the end for the game company yet. They are simply stalling the production and development. They will still be selling games, soundtracks, and merchandise, and they will still be active on Twitter for their fans and supporters. They will not be abandoning "The 13th Interior," one of their games still in development, albeit they will be working a lot more slowly since their studio just lost most of its development members.
Pinchbeck and a few of the company's executive staff will also still be continuing the game development until they find solid footing and a fully active development team.
The studio's troubles were further explained by Pinchbeck. Apparently, he and co-founder Jessica Curry were artists and game creators who tried to expand their company too fast. Pinchbeck admitted that expansion was not their forte and would be more suited for a managing director. That experience left Curry and Pinchbeck burnt out and stressed.
Pinchbeck assured fans and supporters in a blog post, "Is it the end of The Chinese Room? No, I don't think so. But it's the end of a chapter, and we hope you can all be patient with us whilst we figure out what happens next."
This is unfortunate for the studio, as "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" was a critical success, though it did not share the same success commercially. As of the moment, their two upcoming games, "The 13th Interior" and "Little Orpheus," only have three members in the development team. It is not certain how this lack of manpower will hinder the games' development.
