Chinese Giant NetEase May Acquire Star Wars: Eclipse Devs
Quantic Dream may be bought out by a major publisher. A prominent insider reports that the creators of Heavy Rain and Star Wars: Eclipse will be in the hands of Chinese company NetEase.
Tencent remains one of the most active publishers in the topic of acquisitions of gamedev studios but another Chinese company has also shown considerable interest in such moves. We are talking about NetEase, which is rumored to be taking over Quantic Dream.
The information was provided by Tom Henderson in an editorial for eXputer. The journalist claims that NetEase plans to announce the acquisition of the French developer this summer. So far, talks on this matter, allegedly dragging on for several months, have not yet been completed.
Quantic Dream and Star Wars: Eclipse at NetEase
The Chinese giant had a minority stake in the French studio for many years. It is thanks to this that in 2019 titles from Quantic Dream's catalog have appeared outside of Sony consoles, including on PCs via Epic Games Store (and later also Steam). Now NetEase wants full control of the studio.
- Henderson is unsure of the reasons for the start of acquisition talks. His sources say it was Quantic Dream itself that wanted to be acquired, and had been for quite some time. He has written about this before in an article about behind the scenes of work on Star Wars: Eclipse. The early reveal of this game, he claimed, was to attract the attention of publishers who would be willing to buy the French developer.
- As for the terms of acquisition, NetEase is expected to provide Quantic Dream with "resources" to develop the studio's projects (including SW: Eclipse), as in the case of Grasshopper Manufacture - another developer purchased by the Chinese company, known primarily for the No More Heroes series.
For now, NetEase has not responded to Henderson's request for comment on these reports. We remind you to treat all unofficial information as untrue until it is possibly confirmed.
As you may recall, Quantic Dream recently assuredthat Star Wars: Eclipse and two other games being developed by the studio have already left the pre-production stage. The team still hasn't revealed what these mysterious projects are. Perhaps we will find out on the occasion of the official announcement of the acquisition?
