NetEase has announced today that their game division NetEase Games has acquired the developers of Heavy Rain – Quantic Dream S.A led by David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumiere.

Quantic Dream will be NetEase Game’s first ever studio set in Europe and marks an important step in fulfilling NetEase’s vision to support innovation and game development around the globe. Quantic Dream will still be operating independently as they focus on creating and publishing video games on all platforms, as well as supporting and publishing third-party developed titles, while leveraging NetEase’s significant game development capabilities.

CEO and Director of NetEase Inc, William Ding mentioned that “We are thrilled to embark on an exciting new stage of growth with Quantic Dream, bound by our shared vision, mutual trust and respect.” William also said that “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.”

“Today marks an important milestone for our studio after a quarter century of complete independence,” said Quantic Dream’s founder, CEO and writer-director David Cage. “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.”

Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Co-CEO and Head of Publishing for Quantic Dream stated that “NetEase Games first invested in Quantic Dream three years ago. Over this period, we had the opportunity to work closely together and saw first-hand how like-minded and complementary we are. NetEase Games’ acquisition comes as a natural evolution in this process and creates a unique opportunity to boost Quantic Dream’s growth by giving our production and publishing teams all the necessary means to excel.”