Quantic Dream , the Parisian study behind many games like Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls, is about to be purchased 100% by a Chinese Internet giant. The company, founded in 1997 and co-directed by David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière, had already been addressed by this same company, which according to EXPUTER sources seems to be determined to be done with French studies.
A long story
According to the same sources, A Netease would like to buy 100% of Quantic Dream’s shares. Chinese firm is specialized in new technologies and especially in Internet data. The videogame industry is familiar because in the past has developed many videogame projects, including a very popular MMO in China , called Fantasy Westward Journey .
In 2019, Netease announced in an official press release that had acquired _ “minority actions” _ of Quantic Dream. Therefore, the link between the two companies is really present.
In addition, after the launch of Detroit: Become Human in 2018, the collaboration established between Sony and Quantic Dream came to an end . In fact, the association stipulated the production of three games: Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and the last work of this “trilogy”, launched four years ago. After that, Quantic Dream would have begun to look for buyers…
The birth of Star Wars Eclipse
After the phenomenal success of Detroit: Become Human, the company decided to embark on a new project , in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, to increase your chances of attracting a potential buyer.
For this reason, the French study would have launched its project, called “Project Kara”, to various companies in the sector, presenting it as a spatial exploration game . The famous “Kara Project” then became the Star Wars Eclipse that we know, announced in the Game Awards in December 2021.
Marked by the controversy
If we make a quick trip through the history of the study, we go to the year 2018 to be accurate. Quantic Dream was celebrating, his last game in society with Sony is about to be released and the public’s attention is placed in the French study. Problem, Several former study employees denounce their toxic and macho environment.
A series of surveys performed by Lemonde, Canardpc and MediaPart then demonstrated that Parisian company offered a disastrous work environment to its employees: sexism, racism, homophobia, harassment… and others as working weeks of more than 60 hours as well as systematic practices of crunch .
When Star Wars Eclipse was announced, some even called for boycotting the game, so it was more than necessary that Quantic Dream will start again at this time. After the society of the Parisian study with Sony, and the controversy in full swing, it is possible that the wishes of Redemption of Quantic Dream were very motivated by these facts .
Therefore, the machine is moving and the French study would be ready to be purchased by Netease. As exputed, the acquisition will be announced this summer . For some, this would be a real opportunity to _ “give life to Star Wars Eclipse” _.