Quantic Dream, the studio known for cinematic titles like Detroit: Become Human and the upcoming Star Wars: Eclipse, has released its own statement regarding its partnership with NetEase in light of the latter reportedly slowing down its international investments and closing down studios. In a post on LinkedIn, studio CEO and head of publishing Guillaume de Fondaumière spoke about the current state of affairs.
In his statement, de Fondaumière revealed that Quantic Dreams itself has been unaffected by NetEase’s more recent moves, with both of its studios in Paris and Montreal working on their projects at “full pace”. de Fondaumière also said that he was “deeply saddened” about the recent layoffs and studio closures under NetEase.
“[Quantic president] David Cage and I would like to express our gratitude to the fans and friends who have reached out to us in recent days regarding Quantic Dream,” de Fondaumière wrote. “We want to reassure everyone that our studios in Paris and Montreal remain unaffected. We are continuing to develop our projects at full pace, with several open positions available in both locations.”
de Fondaumière has also referred to NetEase as a dedicated partner that has allowed Quantic Dream to pursue its projects with the creative freedom and financial backing it has needed. After having initially partnered up with NetEase back in 2019 where the firm acquired a minority stake in Quantic Dream, the studio was fully acquired by NetEase in 2022.
Interestingly, de Fondaumière also refers to 2024 as a period with the highest revenue in Quantic Dream’s history, thanks to high sales of titles like Detroit: Become Human. The title had sold 11 million copies globally across both PC and PlayStation, which was a 2 million rise year-on-year.
“The developments of our current projects are progressing as planned, and we are fully committed to delivering and launching these innovative, high-quality titles in the future,” wrote de Fondaumière to cap things off.
Rebel Wolves co-owner and chief publishing officer Tomasz Tinc posted a similar statement earlier this week, revealing that NetEase’s actions haven’t affected the studio yet, and development on The Blood of Dawnwalker was fully funded and was going on as expected.
“First and foremost, thank you for all the warm messages and wishes,” wrote Tinc in his statement. “The development of our game is progressing steadily and we’re facing no financial issues.”
“The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s production is fully funded, and we work alongside our partners and friends from Bandai Namco, our game’s global publisher, to bring the first chapter of the Dawnwalker saga to life.”
Similarly, Anchor Point Studios boss Paul Ehreth also spoke about the relatively new studio being unaffected by NetEase’s studio closures. Ehreth said that the studio was “still full steam ahead building our game.”
“So far, NetEase has been a great partner for us, giving us creative control and development support, and we look forward to the prospect of shipping an exceptional game together in the future,” he wrote. “While it may be stormy seas at the moment for the industry, we are very much still growing, and we have several positions open for anyone looking for a safe harbor.”
