You may have missed it as it was sunset and closed down after only a short while on the market, but Quantic Dream actually launched a brand new game earlier this year. It was a free-to-play multiplayer project called Spellcasters Chronicles, and it was another casualty of the live-service push we have been seeing in the industry, where publishers hunt for a golden goose only to find limited interest come launch from fans, resulting in the developer who made the project being hit with tough financial reparations most often revolving around layoffs but sometimes even stretching to entire studio closures.
To this end, Quantic Dream was affected by this rather common turn of events, and now we're seeing the consequences take shape. According to GameKult, the French developer is at risk of seeing 115 employees being laid off, which will mostly affect the team working on Star Wars Eclipse, a somewhat maligned project that was announced in 2021 and has basically not had anything to show since then.
We've seen leaked concept art from the game, but most of the recent reports surrounding the project suggest development struggles that could see Quantic Dream sold, all while the game is still "years from completion", something it also was claimed to be back in 2023...
None of this paints a picture of a game that will soon lead to a strong financial return for the floundering Quantic Dream in the near future, which is no doubt why the studio is at risk of layoffs, something the staff are fighting back against by organising a protest. This move is regarded as "far from being an act of sabotage" and that the aim is to simply save the jobs of the 115 employees at risk as without them the team will not be able to finish Star Wars Eclipse and the project will likely be cancelled.
As per a developer known as Jules: "We could manage to release it with 115 additional people, and that wouldn't be 'overstaffed': it's what's needed. We're understaffed, like in many other companies in the sector, because bosses know very well that passion will lead people to crunch time and that games will eventually be released. But it's impossible to run a sustainable industry like that."
Another developer known as Theo also mirrored this belief: "We believe that, as things stand, the game literally cannot be finished if the redundancy plan is implemented as currently scheduled."
Either way, it seems like a big decision is on the horizon for Quantic Dream.