While discussing the titles that could appear at the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase, he said, “Yeah, it ain’t going well. Quantic Dream..They want to get out from under NetEase. They want to divest from Quantic Dream. I’m not going to be surprised if Quantic Dream is sold by the end of the year…like, ‘Hey, we’re selling or whatever by end of the year or sometime in 2027.’

“It’s not going well. Like, it is not going well at all. And there’s frustration. There’s a lot of frustration about it. So I would not expect that. If they did anything, it would be a ‘We’re still here.'”

Straw reiterated that Quantic Dream was reportedly riding on Spellcasters Chronicles providing funding for Eclipse to help push it across the finish line. Obviously, that didn’t happen with servers planned to shut down on June 19th. It stings all the more considering that the free-to-play 3v3 title reportedly took eight years to develop.

And if that wasn’t enough, the developer is undergoing an “internal reorganization,” which could result in layoffs for up to 95 employees. Given that it’s still early, Quantic Dream couldn’t comment on the severity.

While Star Wars Eclipse could receive a cinematic trailer at, say, Summer Game Fest or the Xbox Games Showcase, reports that it’s still “years off” from completion apparently remain true.

Suffice to say that between this and Knights of the Old Republic – Remake, it’s a tough time to be a fan of narrative-focused Star Wars games. Fortunately, it seems that Arcanaut Studios’ Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is making positive progress, with project lead Casey Hudson promising it would launch before 2030. He also noted that it wouldn’t be 200 hours long or feature generative AI in any form.

STJV has also noted that there have been plenty of red flags about the project over the years, and said that management was overconfident about the potential success of Spellcasters Chronicles, citing “30 years of experience” of the leadership team.

“This project, started 8 years ago and led by Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage, and Grégorie Diaconu, was supposed to be a ‘reasonably-sized’ project and was planned for a much earlier release,” wrote the union. “Over all these years, nobody questioned the business model or how the game was to become profitable. Catastrophic project management resulted in iteration after iteration, exhausting the team and leading production straight to disaster.”

“It’s sad to say, nobody is surprised by this outcome. Worker representatives have sounded the alarm about the project’s colossal risk level numerous times,” it continued. “In front of employees, management arrogantly explained that success was a given for Spellcasters Chronicles, thanks to ’30 years of experience’ of the decision-makers. In front of the workers’ council, management refused to consider other scenarios and to plan accordingly. Failure was never an option, never thought about, never planned for: incompetence led us here today. Workers pay for management’s misguided ways.”

Along with the management itself, the union has also noted that Quantic Dream shareholder NetEase also shares the blame, thanks in large part to its push to stop development of Spellcasters Chronicles as soon as possible, as well as a lack of marketing surrounding its launch.

STJV wraps up with a list of demands for Quantic Dream, chief among them being the cancellation of all planned terminations. Along with this, the union has also said that the team behind Spellcasters Chronicles should, in the absence of a new project, be reassigned to work on Star Wars Eclipse. The union also wants workers to be “re-categorized at a higher professional rank” in order to give them better rights and employment protections, and for the management and leadership teams to accept responsibility for the failure of the project and to resign immediately.

Spellcasters Chronicles was unveiled in October 2025 and revolves around putting players in the shoes of spellcasters that partake in 3-on-3 PvP battles. Along with spells, players also have the ability to control large armies that include a variety of fantasy creatures, from dragons to skeletons. The title boasted of more than 50 spells and summons.

While the title remains playable for those who already added it to the library until its servers are shut down on June 19th, no new players can give Spellcasters Chronicles a shot, with Steam noting that the game is no longer available on the store.

“With Spellcasters Chronicles, Quantic Dream set out to propose a bold and original multiplayer experience. It gave our studio the opportunity to explore new creative territories and experiment with new concepts. However, in today’s particularly challenging market environment, we must acknowledge that the game, in its current form, has not reached a sufficient audience to ensure its long-term sustainability,” it revealed to IGN in a recent statement.

“We have consequently made the difficult decision to discontinue the development of Spellcasters Chronicles and to refocus our efforts on our other projects. This decision reflects a disciplined and responsible approach in light of current market conditions. It in no way diminishes the remarkable work accomplished by the teams involved. Their talent, creativity, and dedication have been essential in bringing this ambitious project to life, and we are proud of what has been achieved together.” It has yet to announce a shutdown date.

Quantic Dream is also undergoing an “internal reorganization.” “We are fully committed to ensuring that this transition is handled with fairness, care, and respect. Wherever possible, we will prioritize internal reassignments to support our other productions.” Layoffs usually occur in such scenarios, although the developer said it couldn’t comment on those affected due to the legal process in France and because it’s early days yet.

But hey, if it helps, it seems that Star Wars Eclipse “is not affected by this decision and continues as planned.” Announced in 2001 at The Game Awards, the narrative-focused title hasn’t received any gameplay or indication about when it could release.

It’s compounded by reports that Quantic Dream banked on Spellcasters Chronicles delivering some form of recurring revenue. Insider Gaming noted that failure could mean NetEase Games, which owns the studio, could “reevaluate its commitment” and “opt to discontinue further investment.”

Which certainly wouldn’t help Star Wars Eclipse since it’s allegedly “years off from completion,” even if a “good portion” of it is already complete, and Quantic Dream is reportedly hoping to expand the team for the final stretch. Could this potentially lead to the project’s cancellation if NetEase drops it – a situation that Nagoshi Studio’s Gang of Dragon is currently facing?

Time will tell, but it’s certainly a sad state for a studio that once prided itself on cinematic narrative titles with jaw-dropping production values.

Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw reported via Insider Gaming Weekly that it’s been “very slow going,” with one source claiming “very little progress over months.” Another source reportedly said back in December that “The game, at this stage, is still looking to be years off from completion.”

It doesn’t necessarily mean that nothing has been made, as a “good portion” of the title is reportedly complete. But in the games industry, a scary amount of work goes into that final stretch, and Quantic Dream is allegedly lagging in that regard.

While the company reportedly discussed expanding its team, NetEase Games is apparently not interested (which would be in line with its divestment of various external studios, including Nagoshi Studio). Apparently, there’s some hope that revenue from Spellcasters Chronicles, the free-to-play competitive multiplayer that launched in Steam early access to a “Mixed” rating, will help.

“At this stage, the long-term outlook is less driven by creative capabilities and more by financial viability. Should Spellcasters fail commercially, NetEase is expected to reevaluate its commitment to the studio and could opt to discontinue further investment.” Unfortunately, with a lifetime peak of 888 concurrent players on Steam and only 86 in the past 24 hours, it seems that Spellcasters won’t be the savior that Quantic Dream is expecting.

As for Star Wars Eclipse, we’ll have to do what we’ve always done for more than four years – wait for more details. At least there’s concept art for some of the characters floating out there.

As the name indicates, combat is heavily spell-focused, but you can also command “armies of hundreds,” including dragons, ogres, and skeletons. Each character is capable of fulfilling different roles by customizing a deck from over 50 spells and summons. You can also harness the power of Titans by controlling the battlefield and creating structures.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a free-to-play title without a seasonal model, with the developer hyping choices that will impact the “gameplay and lore.” Spellcasters Chronicles doesn’t have a release date or window, but you can register for the closed beta here, which will begin on Steam before the year ends.

For those keen on Quantic Dream’s single-player efforts, it has also recently confirmed that Star Wars Eclipse is still in development. While “eager” to showcase more, there’s still no release date or gameplay.