Quantic Dream CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière addressed rumors that Chinese developer NetEase might cut funding to the studio following cuts to its Seattle-based Marvel Rivals developer team.
In the wake of Game Director Thaddeus Sasser announcing his Seattle-based Marvel Rivals team, which served as a “sort of an R & D branch, coming up with new level design mechanics, gameplay mechanics” was laid off rumors swirled that NetEase might cut funding to other studios including Quantic Dream.
Stephen Totilo at Game File reported on February 21st, “NetEase plans to divest itself of the majority of its overseas teams, leading to the potential closure of more than a dozen game studios, if they can’t secure new post-NetEase funding.”
A NetEase spokesman informed Totilo that “all studios and projects are in constant review and evaluation, and NetEase will determine changes needed to be made throughout that process.”
Former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern indicated that Quantic Dream, the publisher of Dustborn, was one of the studios that could be affected and noted it was “rumored to be in trouble.”
On the same day as Totilo’s reporting, Bloomberg also reported that NetEase CEO William Ding had “curtailed support for about a dozen games and shut down so many projects that NetEase studios in China may not release any major titles next year.”
However, it noted that Ding said during a recent conference call that the company was still committed to support “really high-quality studios and really master creators.”
“That is our strategy,” he added. “There’s no change on that.”
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De Fondaumière responded to these rumors writing on LinkedIn, “We were deeply saddened to learn about the recent layoffs and studio closures affecting some of the NetEase group’s divisions. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted, and we sincerely hope that they quickly find new opportunities.”
“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. 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 (please visit https://lnkd.in/e_AJFbUa for more details),” he added.
He continued, “Founded 28 years ago, QUANTIC DREAM remains committed to the strategy outlined by David and I in 2019, when NetEase initially acquired a minority stake in our company. Over the past six years, NetEase has been a dedicated partner, providing us with creative freedom and the financial resources necessary for our studio to grow and strive. In 2022, QUANTIC DREAM became a wholly owned subsidiary of NetEase, aligning with our shared vision for the future.”
“In 2024, we achieved the highest revenue in our history, driven by the exceptional performance of our back-catalogue titles,” he shared. “Notably, Detroit: Become Human reached 11 million units in global sales across PlayStation and PC last year, a remarkable 2 million increase year-on-year, demonstrating the lasting appeal and quality of our titles. 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.”
What do you make of Quantic Dream’s response to these rumors and reports?
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It would be funny if after this statement they are forced to fire people. This is what those studios deserve for taking CCP money.