Simon Zhu: A company of our size and stature doesn’t make investments lightly, and we have of course taken great care in analyzing all aspects of Quantic Dream, in particular the studio culture. This is very important for us, as we take great care of these matters in our own company. We have been able to spend time with the Quantic Dream team, to learn to know the studio culture, and we have seen nothing that points to any of the allegations published by certain press.
GamesBeat: Did you worry this could hurt the prospects for a deal with someone like NetEase? If so, how did you overcome this?
Cage: We knew the truth, so we tried not to concern ourselves here. We knew anyone who would seriously investigate and talk to members of the studio would immediately understand the real situation. We let NetEase talk to whomever they wanted to in the studio. They did their due diligence speaking at length with our entire team as well as asking questions around the industry. We had no doubt about their conclusions.
The unfortunate part of these allegations was the hurt to the company and its employees. Anyone who knows the company knows how unfair it was. Fortunately, our team always stood together, and we are now more solid than ever, and the entire team is thrilled by the exciting times to come.
GamesBeat: After Detroit, what else are you working on?
Cage: It is too early to reveal anything about our future projects. What I can say is that we are working on our next engine that will be cross- platform and even more impressive than anything we have done before. We will keep working on projects that are ambitious and original, building on the genre we pioneered and that we will continue to develop, but we also want to explore new grounds.
Above: Detroit: Become Human doesn’t look so good when it tries to show crowds.
GamesBeat: Are you still going to focus on Sony platforms? Or will you spread out to new platforms?
Guillaume de Fondaumière: We will continue to work on PlayStation, which is a platform we love and that we know very well. but we will also consider other platforms as we want to make our creations accessible to as many gamers as possible worldwide, regardless of the platform. This is definitely a shift for us after 12 years developing exclusively for PlayStation. But at the same time we have developed engines on PC, Dreamcast, Xbox, PS2, PS3, PS4, and PS4 Pro. Thus, we are confident we can make a smooth transition while keeping the high level of quality that we target for our games.
We learned a lot working with PlayStation for so long, and we now want to bring these learning to other platforms.
GamesBeat: So you have a deal with a Chinese company. Do you want to move into China? Or do online games?
Guillaume de Fondaumière: China is the world’s largest market and it seems that every day the gaming world becomes more uniformed. For instance, we have been very impressed by Detroit’s fanbase in China and how popular the game is in this country. Last week, we won the “Top Rated Game” award on Bilibili’s annual game review, which was truly a surprise for us. We see a great potential for us in China and will work with NetEase closely to find the right way to address this important market in the future.
Above: Markus and North contemplate their next moves in Detroit: Become Human.
GamesBeat: Will you add to the staff now?
Cage: Yes, we are right now hiring across all disciplines, from production and programming to game design and art. We are looking for talented people who want to work on very ambitious projects. The team was around 200 people at the peak of Detroit, so our objective will be to reach around 300 people.
GamesBeat: Will both the leaders be staying on at the studio for the foreseeable future?
Cage: Absolutely, both Guillaume de Fondaumière and myself will remain at the helm of the studio, as well as all the experienced collaborators who have worked with us for more than 10, 15, or 20 years. It is also important to say to our fans that through this partnership with NetEase, Quantic Dream is significantly stronger. We will always stay true to what we believe in and who we are. As long as there are players to support our work, we will be there offering experiences that explore different directions to create emotions, with sincerity and passion.
GamesBeat: As for NetEase, why are you doing this deal?
Simon Zhu: we are all big fans of Quantic Dream’s games! In fact the president of NetEase Games recently played Detroit: Become Human and was so moved by it that he asked every game designer to play it. From a company stand point, with NetEase as a game developer ourselves, we do feel a strong sense of shared value with Quantic Dream. We both strive for high quality games, next generation
technology, and further advancing the art of interactive storytelling.
