Quantic Dream announces Spellcasters: Chronicles, a competitive multiplayer game, and fans are confused

Today, Quantic Dream, the studio known for narrative-driven single-player experiences like Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human, announced that the team is stepping into the competitive multiplayer space, and fans are confused. The game is called Spellcasters: Chronicles, and it appears to be a 3v3 third-person MOBA set in a colorful fantasy world. The announcement trailer was revealed alongside a blog post from studio founder David Cage, which gave an update on the studio and the new game, and assured fans that their upcoming Star Wars game is still in development.

Quantic Dream, the studio known for narrative single-player games, is making a MOBA?

The fan response has been mostly surprise and concern about Quantic Dream’s new project. Competitive multiplayer is a difficult genre to break into; video game fans have experienced far too many failures and flops over the last five years to have any confidence in another. Plus, even Cage admits that this is outside of Quantic Dream’s wheelhouse, writing in the blog post: “…since we have no legacy in this genre, we know we have everything to prove…” Looking at the comments on the YouTube trailer, there isn't much vocal support for the concept.

The top comment on the trailer reads: “Nobody asked for a stylized version of Paragon…” Paragon, of course, is a free-to-play MOBA that was shut down in 2018. Other comments liken it to Concord, the infamous competitive multiplayer hero shooter flop from PlayStation last year. Another comment sums up the sentiment: “This is not what I expected from QD.” Many fans wonder why Quantic Dream has decided to make this pivot. They have not released a game in seven years, but their single-player games have been successful. Is this another case of a developer forcing their hand at a live-service game to chase the potential profit?

Apparently, according to Cage’s blog post, “…development on Star Wars: Eclipse continues, and we are eager to share more with you in the future.” So, at least this new MOBA idea is not the only thing they are working on. But Star Wars: Eclipse also remains a huge question mark. Not much information has been revealed since the 2021 cinematic trailer, and the studio doesn’t seem any closer to revealing more about the game, beyond it still existing.

Ultimately, we will have to be patient with Quantic Dream. There is always the possibility that Spellcasters: Chronicles becomes a massive success. There could be a huge trailer for Star Wars: Eclipse at the Game Awards this December. We know so little about both projects at this point that it’s difficult to predict anything. But a competitive multiplayer game is a tall order, even under the best of circumstances.

Spellcasters Chronicles

2026

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• Overview

• multiplayer
• Quantic Dream
• MOBA