Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream will no longer be a PlayStation exclusive developer.
In a recent interview, Quantic Dream bosses Guillaume de Fondaumière and David Cage revealed that they have reached an agreement with Chinese publisher NetEase in order to secure funding for future projects. The trade-off of this arrangement is that the studio will no longer exclusively develop games for PlayStation.
“Our objective is to be present on all platforms where there is an audience that can enjoy our experiences,” said de Fondaumière. “We will, of course, continue developing on PlayStation, a platform that we know very well after having worked with Sony for 12 years, but we will also be present on all other relevant platforms.”
While the news that Quantic Dream will no longer be a PlayStation exclusive developer is significant enough, there’s actually quite a bit more to this story. For those who don’t remember, Quantic Dream was the subject of a fairly extensive investigation involving complaints of harassment and an inhospitable workplace. The extent of these allegations was significant even if the investigation itself was ongoing. However, NetEase says they considered the allegations when making this decision and decided to move ahead with the funding anyway.
“A company of our size and stature doesn’t make investments lightly, and we have of course taken great care in analysing all aspects of Quantic Dream, in particular, the studio culture,” said NetEase executive, Simon Zhu. “This is very important for us, as we take great care of these matters in our own company. We have been able to spend time with the Quantic Dream team, to get to know the studio culture, and we have seen nothing that points to any of the allegations published by certain press.”
The extent and possible fallout of these allegations not only means that Quantic Dream could be facing an uncertain future, but it also makes you wonder whether the studio’s hit and miss critical reception will be further complicated by the studio’s recent social baggage. In any case, it certainly makes sense that NetEase would want Quantic Dream games on as many platforms as possible in order to mitigate the potential damages.