A new report has shed light on the goings on at French studio Quantic Dream and revealed concern about the future of Star Wars Eclipse.
Last month, Quantic Dream canceled its live service game, Spellcasters Chronicles, just three months after its early access launch. The studio best known for successful single-player story-driven games, such as Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human, signalled that the Spellcasters Chronicles cancelation would result in layoffs, although it has yet to say how many are affected.
At the time of the cancelation, Quantic Dream insisted the development of Star Wars Eclipse “is not affected by this decision and continues as planned.” But according to French website gamekult, Eclipse is suffering from “a lack of resources, vision, and progress.” IGN has asked Quantic Dream for comment.
Announced in 2021 via a flashy cinematic trailer, Star Wars Eclipse has flown under the radar in the years since. Set within the franchise’s High Republic era, Eclipse is expected to integrate Quantic Dreams’ traditional story-based gameplay with an action-adventure game set in the Star Wars universe.
Beyond that, details on what to expect remain thin on the ground, and Quantic Dream has only commented on the project over the past few years to quash rumors of development trouble and delays, amid suggestions that the studio was struggling to hire staff following previous workplace allegations. Star Wars Eclipse is still without a release window even now, five years after it was announced.
Gamekult said Quantic Dream is reportedly considering laying off 115 staff — said to amount to a quarter of the company’s workforce — following the cancelation of Spellcasters Chronicles, which itself sparked a strike organized by the STJV union that took place in front of the studio’s Paris headquarters. Gamekult said striking staff are trying to save Star Wars Eclipse. They believe at least some of the Spellcasters Chronicles developers who are set to lose their jobs will be needed to make Star Wars Eclipse a reality without enduring staff crunch.
Apparently, on the day of the strike (June 25), a delegation from Lucasfilm was due to visit Quantic Dream to check the progress of Star Wars Eclipse. The striking staff wanted to send a clear message: as things stand, Eclipse cannot be finished if the redundancy plan goes through, or, as gamekult put it: “saving the company from a very painful cancellation, which currently hangs like a sword of Damocles over the employees.”
Last year, Quantic Dream was forced to respond to closure fears amid a pullback from western gaming companies from Chinese owner NetEase.
In a statement posted to LinkedIn, Quantic Dream CEO and head of publishing, Guillaume de Fondaumière, said he was “deeply saddened to learn about the recent layoffs and studio closures affecting some of the NetEase group’s divisions,” but assured players that Quantic’s studios in Paris and Montreal remain “unaffected.”
“[Quantic president] David Cage and I would like to express our gratitude to the fans and friends who have reached out to us in recent days regarding Quantic Dream,” de Fondaumière wrote. “We want to reassure everyone that our studios in Paris and Montreal remain unaffected. We are continuing to develop our projects at full pace, with several open positions available in both locations.”
de Fondaumière added that despite NetEase acquiring Quantic Dream as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2022, “Quantic Dream remains committed to the strategy outlined by David and I in 2019,” insisting “NetEase has been a dedicated partner, providing us with creative freedom and the financial resources necessary for our studio to grow and strive.”
The CEO also revealed the studio’s back-catalog had seen an “exceptional performance,” contributing to the “highest revenue in [the company’s] history” in 2024.
“The developments of our current projects are progressing as planned, and we are fully committed to delivering and launching these innovative, high-quality titles in the future,” de Fondaumière said, but did not provide any specific update on its upcoming Star Wars game, Star Wars: Eclipse.
In March, it was revealed that NetEase cut off funding to the studio led by Yakuza franchise creator Toshihiro Nagoshi as part of its plan to reduce its video game development activities. Nagoshi’s game, Gang of Dragon, now appears to have been canceled. Could Star Wars Eclipse endure a similar fate?
As for the staff at Quantic Dream, union discussions are said to be ongoing. STJV wants the studio to sign a majority agreement with the union to mitigate the damage and move forward, which would in theory see fewer staff lose their jobs, and the remaining staff helping to get Eclipse out the door.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
