In 2020, Quantic Dream will celebrate its 23rd anniversary.
David Cage – CEO, Director and Writer
Guillaume de Fondaumière – Co-CEO, Head of Publishing
Image Credit: Quantic Dream
A post on the company’s blog briefly looks at the studio’s past projects and highlights the commercial success of Detroit: Become Human and its launch of PC. For the first time in Quantic Dream’s history, it’s in the position to self-publish, as well as work with other developers.
This new venture will allow us to make decisions in total independence, and to address the technological and strategic opportunities of next-generation platforms. It will also allow us to help other developers, by providing investment and development support, so that they can fully express their talents. We want to support creators of original projects and help them, in turn, to achieve their vision and offer quality, ground-breaking experiences.
Quantic Dream
As for the vision for the future, the studio continues to “believe that interactivity can be a means of artistic expression, that passion and sincerity are our best allies in reaching gamers, and that the values of humanism, solidarity, and inclusiveness.”
If you haven’t been paying attention, Quantic Dream has been making games exclusively for PlayStation since 2010, when Heavy Rain came out. However, the company has never been Sony’s first-party studio, and in January 2019, NetEase made a minority investment in Quantic Dream. Following this, the studio released Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human on PC through the Epic Games Store.
Breaking free of PlayStation exclusivity is something that the studio execs have been considering since 2016, according to DualShockers. Now the studio is finally independent enough to become, in David Cage’s words, “a ’boutique’ publisher.” In this capacity, it will be “backing few titles and championing originality and high quality, while providing tech and industrial support.” Cage also emphasizes “an ethical approach, offering fair deals and not taking ownership of IP.”