UPDATE: Quantic Dream has issued a response to some of the claims made in the report:
Quantic Dream continues to grow as it works on Star Wars Eclipse, third-party publishing, and unannounced projects. The studio announced last year that its workforce across its Paris and Montreal offices increased by 50% in 2021.
In regards to allegations made against the studio, the Paris Court of Appeals issued a decision in 2021 that dismissed them. This decision stood with previous rulings, which found that no toxic atmosphere prevailed in the company and that no discrimination of any kind had taken place. More information about the court decision can be found here.
Quantic Dream is committed to nurturing a respectful and supportive studio environment, as seen in the following actions and statements last year:
- Bringing on LGBTQIA+ representatives to ensure that diverse voices and authentic representation are present at all levels in the studio.
- In response to the allegations, the LGBTQIA+ employees of Quantic Dream drafted and shared a letter refuting those claims and stating the allegations were “deeply hurtful” and “do not reflect [their] everyday lives at work.”
- Creating and maintaining an equitable workforce. More than 50% of managers at Quantic Dream are women, including production directors, department leads, project managers, and more.
- Signing the Diversity Charter promoted by French organizations SNJV and SELL, the governmental agencies DGE and CNC.
The full company statement is available on the Quantic Dream website here: https://blog.quanticdream.com/quantic-dream-statement-april-27-2022/
Original story follows.
Star Wars Eclipse is targeting a 2026 release date, an established industry insider reported Wednesday. Eclipse is one of several non-EA projects based on Lucasfilm's iconic franchise that have been revealed near the end of EA's decade-long exclusivity license for making Star Wars games.
Announced in December 2021 at The Game Awards, Star Wars Eclipse is the next game from the developers of Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain, and Detroit: Become Human. Set in the High Republic era immediately preceding the events of the original film trilogy, the game is said to feature a branching storyline with multiple playable characters, much like Quantic Dream's past titles. However, Star Wars Eclipse has allegedly been having serious development issues since its inception.
Those issues persist to this date, known industry insider Tom Henderson reports, citing the same sources who previously leaked NetEase's Quantic Dream acquisition before that deal was officially announced in August 2022. Given that state of affairs, it's possible that Star Wars Eclipse ends up being pushed beyond 2026, as per the same source. But even if the project manages to hit its tentative release window, it's still likely to be the last of the currently announced Star Wars games to reach the store shelves.
The developer's supposed continued expansion struggles inhibiting Star Wars Eclipse are widely attributed to Quantic Dream's toxic workplace lawsuit and its unbecoming reputation stemming from that litigation, which the studio previously labeled as a smear campaign before getting it overturned by a French court of appeals in 2021. The lawsuit was preceded by reports of hostile workplace conditions at Quantic from Le Monde, Mediapart, and Canard PC. The developer subsequently sued Le Monde and Mediapart for libel, eventually winning the former complaint, while losing the latter.
Star Wars Eclipse isn't the only game based on the iconic sci-fi franchise that's currently understood to be facing development difficulties; the much-anticipated remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is in a similar boat, having switched developers last summer following negative feedback from Sony, who previously negotiated a timed PS5 exclusivity agreement for the game with Embracer Group. Hit MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic is also facing some turmoil right now, with Ultima Online maker Broadsword taking over its support just as BioWare was hit with layoffs earlier this month.
Star Wars Eclipse is currently in development.
Source: Insider Gaming