Posted in: Games, NetEase Games, Quantic Dream, Video Games | Tagged: NetEase Games, Quantic Dream

Quantic Dream Has Been Acquired By NetEase Games

Published Wed, 31 Aug 2022 07:12:10 -0500

A bit of shocking news this morning as NetEase Inc. announced it has acquired French studio Quantic Dream to run under NetEase Games. An interesting change of pace for the company behind games such as Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain, as at one point, they were directly publishing titles for Sony, and now find themselves a part of a Chinese publisher. (Which is becoming a familiar sight these days.) The finer details of the deal, including how much the company went for, were not immediately disclosed. What we do know is that Quantic Dream will continue to operate as an independent production company, aiming to continue working on its current projects for PC and consoles, as well as supporting and publishing third-party developed titles, with it appears all of its staff still employed and key members remaining in charge. However, we won't be surprised if, three months from now, the company started getting new projects added to the table.

It will also be interesting to see if this help or hinders current projects in the works, namely Star Wars: Eclipse, which back in May was reportedly delayed clear to 2027 at the earliest. Will new ownership help them out and give the development new life to come out sooner? Time will tell as we'll see where the studio is a year from now. Here are a few quotes from today's announcement.

Quantic Dream Has Been Acquired By NetEase Games — Credit: NetEase Inc.

"We are thrilled to embark on an exciting new stage of growth with Quantic Dream, bound by our shared vision, mutual trust and respect," said William Ding, CEO and Director of NetEase, Inc. "NetEase will continue to fulfil our promise to support Quantic Dream to realise its full potential. By combining the wild creativity and exceptional narrative focus of Quantic Dream with NetEase's powerful facilities, resources and execution capabilities, we believe there are infinite possibilities that could re-define the interactive entertainment experience we provide for players worldwide."

"Today marks an important milestone for our studio after a quarter century of complete independence," said Quantic Dream's founder, CEO and writer-director David Cage. "NetEase Games values our creative freedom and the drive and passion of our uniquely diverse team. We will now be able to accelerate the vision we share as a group, of creating landmark titles that touch people on an emotional level. We have highly differentiated games in the making and I truly believe that the best is yet to come from Quantic Dream. I am particularly proud that our employees, who were offered a significant share of our capital over the past years, will fully benefit from this acquisition. It is a testimony to our continued commitment to reward all those who have made Quantic Dream the successful studio it is today."

"NetEase Games first invested in Quantic Dream three years ago," said Guillaume de Fondaumière, Co-CEO and Head of Publishing for Quantic Dream. "Over this period, we had the opportunity to work closely together and saw first-hand how like-minded and complementary we are. NetEase Games' acquisition comes as a natural evolution in this process and creates a unique opportunity to boost Quantic Dream's growth by giving our production and publishing teams all the necessary means to excel."

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