Sheffield-based video game maker Sumo Group has snapped up an award-winning game development studio in Brighton for more than £2 million.
The AIM-listed company has acquired The Chinese Room from its founders Dan Pinchbeck and Jessica Curry.
The Chinese Room is best known for creating experimental first-person games such as Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and, most recently, So Let Us Melt.
The business was founded in 2010 and named after John Searle’s Chinese room thought experiment.
“The Chinese Room has an outstanding reputation and its acquisition will enhance and extend Sumo Digital’s capabilities, as well as bringing new intellectual property and accelerating our own IP pipeline,” said chief executive Carl Cavers.
Cavers added that having a game development studio in the south of England opens further doors for the group.
Dan Pinchbeck has joined Sumo Group as creative director of The Chinese Room and he will be issued with options over Sumo Group shares. Co-founder Jessica Curry has chosen to leave the business to continue her career as a composer.
Cavers said: “I am really pleased with the acquisition of The Chinese Room and that Dan has chosen to join Sumo Digital. We believe his renowned and proven creative abilities will add real value to the business.”
Sumo has paid approximately £2.2 million for the business, including £1.6 million in cash and £600,000 through the issue of shares in the group to the sellers.