Today (the 21st), Quantic Dream, a French studio owned by NetEase, announced that it is canceling development of the MMO *Spellcasters Chronicles*, just three months after the game launched on Steam Early Access. Following the project’s termination, the studio will undergo internal restructuring, which may involve layoffs. This marks yet another instance of NetEase’s ongoing contraction of its overseas operations in recent years.
Launched in February of this year, *Spellcasters Chronicles* marks Quantic Dream’s first foray into free-to-play multiplayer online games. Notably, the game is not a traditional MOBA in the strictest sense, but rather a unique blend of MOBA and deck-building mechanics.
However, the market did not respond favorably. According to SteamDB data, the game’s peak concurrent players at launch were only 888, and the 24-hour peak dropped to 54; its Steam reviews remain “Mixed.” After three months of operation, Quantic Dream stated that the game “failed to attract a large enough audience to ensure long-term sustainability,” and therefore decided to halt development and redirect resources to other projects.
Quantic Dream is known for its narrative-driven single-player games, with notable titles including *Heavy Rain*, *Beyond: Two Souls*, and *Detroit: Become Human*. This foray into a new genre ended in failure. In a statement, the studio acknowledged: “This was a bold and original attempt at a multiplayer experience, but in the current challenging market environment, the game failed to attract a sufficient player base.”
It is worth noting that Quantic Dream’s flagship project, *Star Wars: Eclipse*, remains unaffected and will proceed as planned. However, the game—which debuted with a CG trailer in 2021—has been largely silent since then, with no release date announced to date, leaving some to question its actual progress.
NetEase Continues to Scale Back Overseas Operations
In 2019, Quantic Dream—which had just ended its long-standing partnership with Sony—received an investment from NetEase. NetEase then acquired Quantic Dream in full in 2022, making it NetEase’s first in-house development studio in Europe.
However, this success was short-lived. As the gaming industry in Europe and the United States began to slow down, NetEase’s overseas expansion strategy has shifted in recent years. The list of studios that have been shut down continues to grow, including Fantastic Pixel Castle, led by Greg Street; Bad Brain Game Studios, founded by Sean Crooks, a veteran of Ubisoft Toronto; and Worlds Untold, founded by Mac Walters, a core writer on the *Mass Effect* series.
Just this week, news broke that another overseas studio backed by NetEase—Nagoshi Studio—has shut down completely. According to reports, Google Maps lists Nagoshi Studio as “permanently closed.”
Bloomberg previously reported that NetEase decided to withdraw its investment after learning that Meiyue Studio still needed an additional 7 billion yen (approximately 299 million yuan) to complete the development of *Gang of Dragon*. Although the studio subsequently attempted to find new investors, progress has been slow; its YouTube channel was temporarily cleared of content, and its official website has been taken offline.
As things stand, it seems unlikely that *Gang of Dragon*, which was only announced last year, will ever be released.
原创文章，作者：gallonwang，禁止转载：https://youxichaguan.com/en/archives/197605
