Detroit: Become Human developer becomes independent and self-publishes games

Developer Quantic Dream becomes independent. The 23-year-old studio says it can do that through recent successes such as Detroit: Become Human. The studio wants to self-publish its games and says it will do so in order to preserve its freedom and independence.

In a blog, Quantic Dream writes that the past two years have been very successful, especially through Detroit: Become Human. As a result, the studio is in a position to self-publish its games for the first time after 23 years.

Quantic Dream was closely associated with Sony for a long time. The games that the studio made in recent years were initially only released for PlayStation consoles. Last year Quantic Dream stopped making exclusives; this was made possible by an investment from the Chinese NetEase.

In the new announcement, Quantic Dream makes no mention of NetEase’s previous investment. That Chinese company has a minority share and it is not known whether that will change. When that investment was announced early last year, Quantic Dream did say the studio would remain independent.

The developer describes the step as a transformation. The studio says it is taking the step to preserve its freedom and independence, in order to continue working on ‘innovative and ambitious projects’.

Quantic Dream released its games Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human for PC last year. The games have appeared on the Epic Games Store and will only be available for purchase through that download store for the first year. It is not yet clear which stores Quantic Dreams will offer its future games through.

Detroit: Become Human