NetEase today announced that its games division, NetEase Games, has acquired French publisher and developer Quantic Dream, which is known to create Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human.
Led by David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière, Quantic Dream will become NetEase Games’ first studio in Europe. According to a press release, the studio will continue to operate independently, focusing on creating and publishing its video games on all platforms, while at the same time leveraging NetEase’s significant game development capabilities.
The studio is currently working in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games on the new action-adventure game, Star Wars Eclipse, a new action-adventure, multiple-character branching narrative AAA game set in the High Republic era of the iconic Star Wars galaxy.
The acquisition may not be a total surprise considering that NetEase has been investing in Quantic Dream three years ago. “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 the studio’s growth by giving our production and publishing teams all the necessary means to excel,” said Guillaume de Fondaumière via the press release.
The Chinese company has a long history of tapping into the gaming market, as it previously acquired Grasshopper Manufacture from GungHo Online Entertainment in October 2021. NetEase also established a Japanese studio called “Sakura Studio” to develop next-generation console games in June 2022. Nagoshi Studio, the new studio by Toshihiro Nagoshi, and Daisuke Sato, along with their former SEGA employees is also a part of their subsidiary.
▍About Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream is a Paris and Montreal-based video game studio created in 1997 by David Cage. The unique narrative experiences offered by Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human, have reached millions of players around the world and won more than 250 international awards. Quantic Dream is currently working on three new in-house projects, including Star Wars Eclipse, developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games.
As an independent publisher since 2019, the studio also supports original creators with unique visions, which are brought to life with the help of its expertise, means of production, funding, and access to the international market and players.
