Quantic Dream has been going through a rocky period of late with hints of a lengthy delay for Star Wars Eclipse and years of accusations of a toxic work environment. However, it seems things may now be looking up as the latest rumor claims NetEase is about to completely acquire the company for an undisclosed sum.
NetEase has invested in Quantic Dream previously
Back in 2019, NetEase acquired a minority stake in Quantic Dream. Their investment was used to create a new IP, an in-house game engine, and a performance capture studio as the studio moved away from PlayStation-exclusive releases. Quantic Dream’s three-game deal with Sony had expired following the release of Detroit: Become Human, Beyond: Two Souls, and Heavy Rain and the developer wanted to move into multi-platform games. According to exPuter, this is when Quantic Dream began looking to be fully acquired.
The developer has approached several companies over the years with little success. Their main selling point was a game called Project Karma, initially a space exploration title. Project Karma eventually became Star Wars Eclipse and it seems like this was the clincher for a deal with NetEase. The reports claim acquisition talks have been ongoing for several months and NetEase is intending to fully acquire Quantic Dream. Whether the deal has been finalized yet is uncertain. Neither company has provided an official statement at the time of writing, but an announcement is expected this summer.
In other news, Insomniac has teased the possibility Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando will be part of the classic games library on offer to PlayStation Plus Ultimate members when the service launches in June. On the other hand, Persona 5 will no longer be available in the PlayStation Plus Collection as it leaves next month. Elsewhere, the latest Horizon Forbidden West update has finally meant that players can get 100% completion.
