Chinese games firm NetEase has acquired French games developer Quantic Dream.
No figure has been placed on the deal, which sees the company buying its first studio in Europe. Quantic Dream is best known for its narrative games, such as Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Detroit: Become Human and the upcoming Star Wars: Eclipse.
This follows NetEase investing in Quantic Dream back in 2019.
"We are thrilled to embark on an exciting new stage of growth with Quantic Dream, bound by our shared vision, mutual trust and respect," NetEase CEO William Ding said.
"NetEase will continue to fulfil our promise to support Quantic Dream to realise its full potential. By combining the wild creativity and exceptional narrative focus of Quantic Dream with NetEase's powerful facilities, resources and execution capabilities, we believe there are infinite possibilities that could re-define the interactive entertainment experience we provide for players worldwide."
Quantic Dream founder David Cage added: "Today marks an important milestone for our studio after a quarter century of complete independence. NetEase Games values our creative freedom and the drive and passion of our uniquely diverse team. We will now be able to accelerate the vision we share as a group, of creating landmark titles that touch people on an emotional level. We have highly differentiated games in the making and I truly believe that the best is yet to come from Quantic Dream. I am particularly proud that our employees, who were offered a significant share of our capital over the past years, will fully benefit from this acquisition. It is a testimony to our continued commitment to reward all those who have made Quantic Dream the successful studio it is today."
This is the latest games activity that NetEase has undertaken outside its native China. The company has recently set up two studios in North America, with Jackalope Games and Jar of Sparks.
It has also bought Suda51's Grasshopper Manufacture and is backing a new studio from Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi.
