French studio Quantic Dream (Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain) passes under the Chinese flag

It is a French video game nugget that will fall into the hands of a Chinese technology giant. Quantic Dream studio has announced that it has received a takeover offer from Internet specialist NetEase. The French developer and publisher did not disclose the amount of the transaction.

Quantic Dream is one of the showcases of French excellence in the field of video games and David Cage’s studio, with an estimated turnover of 10 million euros, has earned a solid reputation for 25 years, especially in narrative writing and graphic realism close to a movie. .

We owe him, for example, the acclaimed games Heavy Rain, beyond two souls either Detroit: Become Human. Always very prolific, during Gamescom, Quantic Dream presented its first published game, under the wavesand their teams are preparing, among other things, the next game Star Wars.

A studio with a global reputation

It is therefore no surprise to have seen the giant NetEase, which weighs some 60 billion dollars, take a close interest in the little French pearl. Less known than Tencent, the world leader in video games, the Chinese have made a name for themselves as an Internet portal, but also as a publisher of online games. And like its neighbor Tencent, the Asian giant is targeting the European market.

If Tencent targets Ubisoft as a takeover bid -of which it already owns 5%-, NetEase is less greedy, but it is playing a good card to position itself and make a name for itself in the world of video games that continues to buzz with sound. of acquisitions.

Multi-billion dollar acquisitions

It is true that the two Chinese players are still far from the inclinations of Microsoft, which took out the checkbook to bring tenors like Bethesda to its lap (Dishonored, Deathloop, Doom) and maybe soon Activision Blizzard King (Call of Duty, League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush), if the US and international competition authorities validate the takeover bid for 70 billion dollars. The now Xbox Studios, which develop games for Xbox consoles, have almost 30 members in the family. Enough to advertise games galore for Xbox Series S and Series X.

For its part, the competitor Sony is not left out, although it started less on the ground. PlayStation also multiplies the offers to expand its PlayStation Studios family, which has achieved great success by signing Bungie (aura -Xbox flagship game still-, destiny), but also smaller studios, but which complement their offer to bring their flagship games to PC or smartphone. One seeks to densify its catalog, the other to multiply its supports: two samples of the same desire for concentration, the new favorite activity of the great protagonists of a sector in full economic expansion.