Quantic Dream co-CEO David Cage talked openly about his studio’s growing ambition. He also discussed how NetEase’s investment empowers them:
The total amount of the investment has gone unreported. However, some have drawn up comparisons to the recent NetEase partnership with Bungie totaling $100 million.
“Our goal is to develop our studio as a global, multi-franchise company, while remaining an independent studio. We want to keep developing original games in the genre we pioneered, but also expand our audience by being present on all platforms.”
Quantic Dream’s most recent three games, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human, were made in partnership with Sony and published exclusively on PlayStation platforms. It seems that this partnership was very casual, as QD is able to move on from the partnership independently without obligation.
As previously mentioned, the Quantic Dream investment is just the latest in NetEase’s ever-growing expansion westward. In 2014, NetEase built its Western Headquarters, followed by the 2015 announcement of a major funding initiative for independent developers. Since then, NetEase has in invested in both Bungie and now Quantic Dream. It also formed an agreement with Marvel Comics to create a Chinese comic book hero, and it has licensed major properties including Minecraft, and virtually all of Blizzard’s major recent releases for publishing in the Chinese market.
Speaking of the Chinese market, it does seem to be a new focus for Quantic Dream following NetEase’s investment. Co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière elaborated:
It’s clear that both Quantic Dream and NetEase have aligned interests in this regard and that the investment becomes much less of a surprise in this light. Perhaps it will grow even clearer once Quantic Dream’s next game is unveiled.
Source: GamesBeat
