Quantic Dream, the developer behind world-famous titles like Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, has become a fully independent studio. Sony Computer Entertainment has published Quantic Dream's games since 2010, which led many to believe that the studio may be bought out like Insomniac Games or Sucker Punch Productions were. However, that hasn't turned out to be the case for Quantic Dream.
There are few developers in the world of gaming more experimental than Quantic Dream. Ever since the company's inception back in 1997, Quantic Dream has been on the bleeding edge of transforming how video games are played and experienced. In 1999, the company released their debut title The Nomad Soul, an adventure game which featured an original soundtrack from David Bowie. After the release of The Nomad Soul, Quantic Dream shifted gears towards the creation of cinematic games, sometimes called "playable movies" by those who have experienced them. In 2010, Quantic Dream entered into an exclusive partnership with Sony, and released their interactive story title Heavy Rain on the PlayStation 3. In the years since the release of Heavy Rain, Quantic Dream has become the forefront face of interactive entertainment, led by the direction of studio founder David Cage.
After 23 years of working with publishers, Quantic Dream has announced that they're going fully independent, according to an official press release on the studio's website. In talking about the years of working under the scope of a publisher, Quantic Dream compares their own maturation process to that of an adolescent who is ready to become an independent person, saying:
"Twenty-three: by that age, a person has left adolescence and is ready to become an adult. That, in many ways, is what Quantic Dream is doing today. After 23 years of learning, discovery, and growth, the studio is now going independent — and we have become masters of our own destiny."
In addition, Quantic Dream credits the enormous success of their titles releasing on PC as a major reason why they're able to go independent. Over the last decade, Quantic Dream has released three titles, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and the popular recent title Detroit: Become Human, but they were all exclusive to PlayStation. Over the past year, however, those titles have begun to trickle out on PC, although it's unclear whether this is due to a negotiation with Sony or a simple matter of timed contracts expiring.
Quantic Dream didn't explicitly say what games they're working on next, but they did express a clear sentiment for the future in saying "We want to face new horizons, to keep our passion alive, and keep trusting in the idea of making games that are different." There's no doubt that Quantic Dream games are different, and it will be exciting to see just how much a fully independent version of the studio will further push the boundaries of the medium in the future.
Source: Quantic Dream