Still Wakes The Deep: Here's How Developer's Claustrophobia Inspired The Survival Horror's Eerie Atmosphere

Still Wakes The Deep developer Dominique Buttiens of The Chinese Room draws on personal fears to shape the chilling environments of the much-anticipated survival horror.

Still Wakes the Deep, the highly anticipated first-person horror survival developed by The Chinese Room, has been launched on the PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. Ahead of the release, Chinese Room's Principal Environment Artist Dominique Buttiens revealed in a PlayStation blog how his own experience with claustrophobia influenced the game's unsettling environments. Still Wakes the Deep was released on June 18 and has already garnered a Metascore of 74 based on PS5 review (84 on Xbox Series X and 76 on PC) on Metacritic.

Set on an oil rig, Still Wakes the Deep aims to exploit various fears and phobias, prominently featuring the vast and mysterious ocean and the dread of isolation. Buttiens' intense personal experiences with claustrophobia significantly shaped the game’s design, particularly the rig's engineering section.

Still Wakes the Deep: Inspiration

The developer recounted a childhood memory where they became stuck in a wooden crate where children would play with tight compartments, triggering a vivid sense of panic.

"I remember being at an event with lots of kids outdoors and they put out this big wooden crate with lots of little wooden compartments for the kids to play and crawl through," Buttiens recalled. As I got halfway through, I remember the twists and turns becoming narrower and the angles becoming harder to navigate."

"My heart was racing, and I started to hyperventilate. I still remember the feeling of the wood under my fingers, the sounds, the smells,"he said. 

This experience, with its tactile and sensory details, served as a foundation for the game's claustrophobic environments.

Claustrophobic Terrors In "Still Wakes the Deep" As Caz

In the game, players assume the role of Caz, who navigates through the rig's engineering section. The narrow hallways, low ceilings, and oppressive heat and moisture create a sense of entrapment. The absence of windows adds to the disorientation, while the mixture of water, oil, rust, and dirt underfoot heightens the tension. Players are made to feel the urgency to reach the open air, knowing something unknown lurks in the shadows.

The Chinese Room's audio team has meticulously crafted the nightmarish sounds that enhance the game's eerie atmosphere, Buttiens said. The combination of haunting visuals and unsettling audio immerses players in an environment where they can almost feel the moisture in the air and the oily, dirty water seeping into their clothes. The stark contrast between the hot, machinery-filled interiors and the harsh, cold exterior weather adds to the overall discomfort, creating a gripping horror experience.

Buttiens credits The Chinese Room's diverse team for the game’s rich storytelling and immersive audio-visual design. The collaboration between storytellers, musicians and audio technicians from various backgrounds has culminated in a game that promises to deliver a thrilling narrative.

Despite working on Still Wakes the Deep, Buttiens admits that the experience hasn't conquered his fears. "If anything, it’s intensified fears of what’s lurking in the shadows," Buttiens added.