NetEase, Star Wars Eclipse and the future of Quantic Dream: Interview with David Cage

Even Quantic Dream understood that a proper birthday party needs a few guests. That’s why the French developer invited to the big on-site event in Paris on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, during which we, together with a few other international press representatives, were allowed to explore the hallowed halls in which blockbusters like Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls or Detroit: Become Human came to life.

In addition to a big studio tour, which we were allowed to take part in, there was also the opportunity to conduct an extensive interview with David Cage. We put the company founder to the test and asked you about the development status of Star Wars: Eclipse, whether Quantic Dream should really be taken over by Chinese investors, and what you actually have to do to get it to get into one of his games as a simple gaming journalist.

PC Games: Quantic Dream is celebrating a big anniversary in 2022: When you look back over the past 25 years, what makes you particularly proud?

David Cage: Well, 25 years. A development studio that has existed for so long – we never dreamed of it. When we started we didn’t have any career or long-term plans. We were just focused on hitting our next milestones and getting our next game out. To have survived to this day is therefore a tremendous achievement.

Apart from that, we are particularly proud that we have never made any compromises. We never chased any trends or produced cheap sequels. We have always followed our instincts, our passion.

PC Games: Quantic Dream had an exclusive partnership with Sony for 12 years. How do you look back on this time? What does the separation mean for the future?

David Cage: We had a wonderful collaboration with Sony. We really enjoyed the time, also because of the many creative freedoms. But there was also a point where we said to ourselves: we want to become independent, we also want to be present on other platforms, we want to reach more people. We want to try other games and genres.

We also got it into our heads that we would no longer work for a publisher and instead be our own bosses. And we had a fantastic opportunity to do just that. We have been approached by several investors who wanted to be part of our adventure. So we left Sony behind, on good terms and with lots of good memories. But now it’s time for us to start a new exciting journey. We’re our own publisher now, but we also publish for other smaller studios that we can help grow and achieve their visions. We can give back to the gaming industry like it gave to us when we started.

Quantic Dream took on the role of publisher for the Director’s Cut of Sea of ​​Solitude.

Source: PC games

PC Games: You work as a publisher with the indie studios Red Thread Games and Parallel Studio, among others, and you helped Jo-Mei Games with the port of Sea of ​​Solitude. Is that something you want to do more of in the future?

David Cage: Absolutely. We started with rather small and few studios. But this is an area of ​​business where we definitely want to continue to grow.