Quantic Dream makes the move to self-publishing

Quantic Dream is set to celebrate its 23rd birthday this year and, ahead of its anniversary, the studio has announced that it is officially going independent and moving to self-publishing.

In a blog post on the official Quantic Dream website, the studio says that after 23 years of “learning, discovery, and growth,” the team “have become masters of [their] own destiny.”

The post also recalls notable people that Quantic Dream have worked with, including David Bowie, Clancy Brown, Ellen Page, Hans Zimmer, and many more.

It also outlines Detroit: Become Human and the launch of several Quantic Dream games on PC as some of the key factors that helped Quantic Dream make its move to being independent a reality.

Quantic Dream’s move to self publishing should hopefully close the gap between console and PC releases, an issue that plagued the studio since its partnership with Sony began – although the Sony exclusivity deal expired in early 2019, as the studio made steps to bring its gaming catalog to platforms beyond the PlayStation 4.

You can read Quantic Dream’s blog post in full below.

This year, Quantic Dream will celebrate its 23rd birthday.

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.

Those 23 years have been a phenomenal ride. We’ve collaborated with David Bowie in Nomad Soul; we’ve directed performers like Clancy Brown and Lance Henriksen, Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, Jesse Williams and Bryan Dechart, Pascal Langdale (Heavy Rain’s Ethan Mars) and Valorie Curry (Detroit’s Kara); and we’ve worked with composers like the late Normand Corbeil, Philip Shepphard, and Hans Zimmer, amongst many other talented partners. It would be impossible to mention all the extraordinary artists and creators we have had the good fortune to work with, but each and everyone has been a special collaboration and a unique moment in our 23-year journey.

But, even by those standards, the last two years have been exceptional: the success of Detroit: Become Human; the growth of an incredible global community; the launch of our games on PC – these are just a few of our highlights. Thanks to Detroit: Become Human, we’ve been able to realize the vision we held dear since the creation of Quantic Dream.

And so, for the first time in 23 years of working with prestigious publishers, we are now in a position to self-publish.

This new venture will allow us to make decisions in total independence, and to address the technological and strategic opportunities of next-generation platforms. It will also allow us to help other developers, by providing investment and development support, so that they can fully express their talents. We want to support creators of original projects and help them, in turn, to achieve their vision and offer quality, ground-breaking experiences.

This is more than an evolution — it is a transformation. We are doing this to preserve our freedom and our independence, to continue working on innovative and even more ambitious projects, to address greater challenges, and to create the unexpected. Quantic Dream will never be just another studio. We want to face new horizons, to keep our passion alive, and keep trusting in the idea of making games that are different.

We want to face new horizons, to keep our passion alive, and keep trusting in the idea of making games that are different.

Everything we have accomplished so far, from our collaboration with David Bowie in 1999 through to our plans for the future, is a reflection of our deeply held convictions. We have remained true to our beliefs, without compromise. This has only been possible because we have an extraordinary and united team of talented people who believe in this vision, and because we have always had an amazing community of gamers who have supported us on our journey. It is thanks to them that we are here today, and thanks to them that, after almost a quarter of a century, we can still dream of making them dream.

Quantic Dream is evolving, but the studio remains true to its roots. We continue to believe that interactivity can be a means of artistic expression, that passion and sincerity are our best allies in reaching gamers, and that the values of humanism, solidarity, and inclusiveness that we have championed in our games for 23 years are more necessary now than ever before.

Thanks to you, we will continue to be who we are: different, curious, passionate and sincere, and we will do all we can to keep amazing and moving you.