NetEase acquires game developer Quantic Dream

NetEase announced that its gaming division, NetEase Games, has acquired game developer Quantic Dream, becoming NetEase Games’ first studio in Europe, a major step in realizing NetEase’s vision to support global innovation and game development.
Led by David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière, Quantic Dream is one of the world’s premier independent video game developers. Quantic Dream was established 25 years ago in Paris, France, and is the creator of iconic games such as Heavy Rainä, Beyond: Two Soulsä, and Detroit: Become Humanä. Quantic Dream announced in 2021 that it is working on the development of a new action-adventure game, Star Wars Eclipse.

NetEase invested in Quantic Dream in early 2019, and the two parties established a partnership. News of the acquisition began to circulate in late March this year.

NetEase Games first invested in Quantic Dream three years ago,” said Guillaume de Fondaumière, Co-CEO and Head of Publishing for Quantic Dream. “Over this period, we had the opportunity to work closely together and saw first-hand how like-minded and complementary we are. NetEase Games’ acquisition comes as a natural evolution in this process and creates a unique opportunity to boost Quantic Dream’s growth by giving our production and publishing teams all the necessary means to excel.

Today marks an important milestone for our studio after a quarter century of complete independence,” said Quantic Dream’s founder, CEO and writer-director David Cage. “NetEase Games values our creative freedom and the drive and passion of our uniquely diverse team. We will now be able to accelerate the vision we share as a group, of creating landmark titles that touch people on an emotional level. We have highly differentiated games in the making and I truly believe that the best is yet to come from Quantic Dream. I am particularly proud that our employees, who were offered a significant share of our capital over the past years, will fully benefit from this acquisition. It is a testimony to our continued commitment to reward all those who have made Quantic Dream the successful studio it is today.

NetEase said that after the acquisition, Quantic Dream will continue to operate independently, focusing on creating and publishing its video games on all platforms, as well as supporting and publishing games developed by third parties, while leveraging NetEase’s resources and development capabilities in games.