Is it impossible to believe that Quantic Dream’s last major story-focused game was Detroit: Become Human in 2018? Granted, it did announce Star Wars Eclipse in December 2021, but updates have been sparse, despite the developer being “eager to share more.” Unfortunately, development may not have been progressing as well as some may like.
Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw reported via Insider Gaming Weekly that it’s been “very slow going,” with one source claiming “very little progress over months.” Another source reportedly said back in December that “The game, at this stage, is still looking to be years off from completion.”
It doesn’t necessarily mean that nothing has been made, as a “good portion” of the title is reportedly complete. But in the games industry, a scary amount of work goes into that final stretch, and Quantic Dream is allegedly lagging in that regard.
While the company reportedly discussed expanding its team, NetEase Games is apparently not interested (which would be in line with its divestment of various external studios, including Nagoshi Studio). Apparently, there’s some hope that revenue from Spellcasters Chronicles, the free-to-play competitive multiplayer that launched in Steam early access to a “Mixed” rating, will help.
“At this stage, the long-term outlook is less driven by creative capabilities and more by financial viability. Should Spellcasters fail commercially, NetEase is expected to reevaluate its commitment to the studio and could opt to discontinue further investment.” Unfortunately, with a lifetime peak of 888 concurrent players on Steam and only 86 in the past 24 hours, it seems that Spellcasters won’t be the savior that Quantic Dream is expecting.
As for Star Wars Eclipse, we’ll have to do what we’ve always done for more than four years – wait for more details. At least there’s concept art for some of the characters floating out there.
