At the end of last year, the French developer studio announced Quantic Dream assumed they were working on Star Wars: Eclipse – given the size of the brand Star Wars quite a nice house number, of course. In the world of video games, however, Quantic Dream was already known before this announcement, and friends of decision-heavy story games are certainly familiar with titles such as Heavy Rain or Detroit: Become Human.
On the occasion of the studio’s 25th anniversary, we were able to conduct an interview with company boss David Cage in July, whom we also asked about the proportionate purchase by the Chinese company NetEase. On the rumor that NetEase Wanted to be able to buy out Quantic Dream outright Cage not come in, but now the cat is officially out of the bag.
NetEase and Quantic Dream: Independence should remain
On the Homepage von Quantic Dream a press release was published today in which the full purchase of the French studio is announced by NetEase and of course also celebrated. They looked back on the cooperation since 2019, looked forward to the future and assured themselves that despite the deal independence to maintain:
“We met NetEase about four years ago and offered them to join us as a minority shareholder in January 2019. During this time we learned a lot about each other. We started collaborating on small and big projects, enjoyed the time working together and discussed a lot about our sector and our vision for the future. In doing so, we discovered that we share the same desire to create bold, high-quality work that makes an impression.”
“To continue evolving and dream big as we begin our next 25 years, we are pleased to announce that we are joining NetEase Games who will now become 100% shareholders of Quantic Dream. We retain our independence in terms of editorial, artistic direction of our projects and the management of our studio.”
“Our teams, which are fully involved in the task and benefit directly financially from it, will of course be fully taken on and will continue to grow and be strengthened. NetEase Games is committed to supporting the innovation and development of video games worldwide and in this framework will also Quantic Dream continues to grow. We will continue to operate independently and retain the ability to develop and publish our own games across all platforms and support 3rd party titles.”
The future of Quantic Dream
By focusing on the Asian market Mobile Games, we also asked in our interview whether Quantic Dream would move towards mobile games after the part-time investment. Cage said no, emphasizing: “NetEase didn’t invest in us to change our identity. They want to support our plans and ambitions. There was never a statement like, ‘You have to do this or that now.’ It’s a very respectful and constructive cooperation on both sides.”
Now where Quantic Dream wholly owned by NetEase, the balance of power is different. But if you believe the official press release, the French development studio wants to retain its independence and live out its own creative identity in the future. We’ll probably find out what it looks like next in Star Wars: Eclipse – According to an insider, the title will be released in 2025.
In addition to their own projects, they want to continue to focus on working as Publisher focus and help other studios. As Quantic Dream Co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière interviews Gamesindustry.biz betrayed if you wanted them “Ramp up investments in the coming months” and just put this on the Gamescom with the announcement of the title Under The Waves.
Those: Quantic Dream / Gamesindustry.biz