The Chinese games company Neteaser is buying the previous indie development studio Quantic Dream. The team is currently working on a “Star Wars” game.
The French developer studio Quantic Dream is now owned by the Chinese company Netease. Both companies announced the takeover on Wednesday without disclosing the financial background. Netease had already acquired shares in Quantic Dream in 2019.
After the acquisition, Quantic Dream’s 250 employees will continue to work independently, reports VentureBeat magazine, which spoke to company founders Guillaume de Fondaumière and David Cage. This independence was an important point in the negotiations.
“Star Wars Eclipse”: Screenshots from the trailer (19 images)
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Quantic Dream is headquartered in Paris. The studio is known for its striking game design: titles like “Heavy Rain” and “Detroit Become Human” are narrative adventures that can also be described as playable films. Players slip into the roles of different protagonists and make decisions that can steer the story in different directions. The actual gameplay of Quantic Dream games is minimal at best, with the cinematic storyline taking center stage.
“Star Wars Eclipse”
Quantic Dream is currently working with LucasArts on a “Star Wars” game that was announced last December. “Star Wars Eclipse” is set to take place during the High Republic, about 200 years before Episode 1 “The Phantom Menace”. The studio is marketing Star Wars Eclipse as an action-adventure game, so it’s possible that the studio’s new game will be more action-packed than its previous titles.
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(Source: Quantic Dream)
Quantic Dream is the first studio owned by Netease in Europe. In the US, Netease runs the Jackalope Games studio, and it also works with companies like Blizzard and Disney for the Chinese market. The video game market is currently undergoing strong consolidation: Microsoft is buying Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, Sony is buying Bungie, Embracer is buying parts of Square Enix, and there are also rumors about EA’s takeover.
Reasons for this development include the rising prices for game development and the massive profit opportunities in the top-grossing entertainment media industry. The market researchers from Newzoo expect 3.2 billion players and total sales of 197 billion US dollars for 2022. Many big tech companies also want to position themselves with gaming expertise for the Metaverse.
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