Another Big Video Game Developer Is Going Full Indie
We've seen a number of developers break free of their shackles these past few years. Remedy ended a long-term deal with Microsoft and released Control on multiple platforms. Bungie hightailed it away from Activision and took full ownership of the Destiny franchise. Quantic Dream ended its PlayStation exclusivity and started bringing its titles to PC.
Out of the three studios on that list, only Bungie has put out new work without a publisher. It appears Quantic Dream — best known for Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain, among others – is ready to travel down the same path.
"[For] the first time in 23 years of working with prestigious publishers, we are now in a position to self-publish," the company wrote today on its blog, adding, "This new venture will allow us to make decisions in total independence, and to address the technological and strategic opportunities of next-generation platforms."
Translation: Quantic Dream won't have a publisher breathing down its neck, and will be able to release its games anywhere it wants. The studio is, to borrow from the title of a Cranberries song, "Free to Decide."
Quantic Dream is taking a giant leap
As we mentioned earlier, Quantic Dream has already started branching out a tiny bit. Games like Detroit: Become Human, Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain are now available on PC via the Epic Games Store. These titles, you might recall, were previously exclusive to PlayStation platforms.
Today's announcement, however, seems to be a more confident step in that direction. Quantic Dream self-published those games on Epic's store, but that was relatively easy to do; they were already made. What the studio is looking to conquer now is the full funding, development, and publishing of its own work. That is a much bigger, much riskier proposition. It's great for those who play on Xbox and Nintendo consoles, as it means they could finally get some Quantic Dream titles added to their libraries. But that's provided Quantic Dream doesn't bite off more than it can chew. Simply developing a game is a whole lot different than doing everything. The latter is more of a gamble.
We'll be anxiously awaiting Quantic Dream's next game announcement, as it'll presumably be the company's first stab at running the whole show. Hopefully Quantic can handle all the additional work. And hopefully some of the studio's back catalog comes to other platforms in the near future. There are some Xbox One and Switch owners who'd love to see what Detroit is all about.