Quantic Dream, French studio behind Detroit: Become Human, joins the flourishing family of NetEase Games, a direct competitor of its counterpart Tencent. It becomes the Chinese company’s first European studio.
So the rumor has been verified. The Chinese company NetEase Games is pursuing its expansion strategy in the video game market by acquiring the Franco-French studio Quantic Dream. NetEase Games had already been a minority shareholder since 2019 of the famous studio, known for games like heavy rain or most recent Detroit: Become Human. It is following this collaboration of about four years, which occurred shortly after the end of the 10-year partnership with Sony, that NetEase Games and Quantic Dream have reached an agreement. A possibility for the latter “to continue to evolve and dream big”reads the press release issued on August 31, 2022.
“We maintain our independence on our editorial line, the artistic direction of projects and the management of the studio. Our teams, who are fully associated with this operation and who benefit directly financially from it, are of course fully preserved and will continue to grow and strengthen. NetEase Games aims to support the innovation and development of video games around the world; it is within this framework that Quantic Dream will continue its growth. We will still operate independently, we will maintain the ability to create and self-publish our video games on all platforms, continue to support and publish titles developed by third parties”reassures Quantic Dream.
After takeovers and opening studios in Japan and the United States, NetEase Game is now coming to Europe. A strategy to successfully compete with Tencent, which is also trying to acquire a large French studio called Ubisoft. NetEase Game does not intend to remain in the shadow of number 1. And even if the French studio drags many pans of toxic environment, stormy collaborations with employees or conflicts with the press, this has not had “no impact on discussions”confides the CEO of Quantic Dream, Guillaume de Fondaumière, to gamesindustry.biz.