Quantic Dream staff strike to save Star Wars Eclipse from cancellation

Quantic Dream staff strike to save Star Wars Eclipse from cancellation

Staff at the French studio Quantic Dream have launched a strike to prevent the potential cancellation of Star Wars Eclipse. The labor action, organized by the STJV union, involves a picket line in front of the studio's Paris headquarters on June 25, 2026.

The unrest follows the May 2026 discontinuation of the live service game Spellcasters Chronicles, which was canceled just three months after its early access launch. According to Gamekult, Quantic Dream is considering laying off 115 staff members — approximately a quarter of the company's workforce — as a result of the project's failure. Staff on the picket line argue that these developers are essential to finishing the Star Wars project.

Staffing and Development Struggles

Employees claim that Star Wars Eclipse is currently suffering from a lack of progress, vision, and resources. A developer identified as Jules told Gamekult that the team is severely understaffed and that the 115 employees targeted for layoffs are necessary to release the game without relying on unsustainable crunch time.

The strike was timed to coincide with a scheduled visit from a Lucasfilm delegation to the studio to assess the progress of the game. Striking workers aimed to signal that the project cannot be finished if the current redundancy plan is implemented, describing the threat of cancellation as a sword of Damocles hanging over employees.

Internal tensions have also surfaced regarding management. A developer named Theo suggested that leadership may be hiding certain decisions imposed by the studio's parent company, NetEase, out of embarrassment, specifically regarding decisions that might involve cutting content from Star Wars Eclipse.

Financial Pressure and Corporate Ownership

Quantic Dream was acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary by the Chinese company NetEase in 2022 for approximately 100 million euros. Insider Gaming reported that the studio had been banking on revenue from Spellcasters Chronicles to fund the development of Star Wars Eclipse. However, the multiplayer title failed and the studio issued refunds to customers.

The instability at Quantic Dream mirrors broader trends within NetEase, which has previously cut funding to Toshihiro Nagoshi's studio in March, leading to the apparent cancellation of the game Gang of Dragon. Additionally, some employees allege that management actively keeps them from speaking with NetEase while simultaneously blaming the parent company for difficult decisions during negotiations.

Despite these reports, Quantic Dream leadership has previously attempted to project stability. In a LinkedIn statement, CEO and head of publishing Guillaume de Fondaumière assured players that the Paris and Montreal studios remained unaffected by other NetEase closures. He stated that 2024 saw the highest revenue in [the company's] history due to the performance of the studio's back-catalog, which includes Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human.

The Future of Star Wars Eclipse

Announced in 2021, Star Wars Eclipse is an action-adventure game set in the High Republic era. It is described as:

"an intricately branching action-adventure game that can be experienced in many ways, and puts the destinies of multiple playable characters in your hands, created in collaboration between Quantic Dream and Lucasfilm Games."

Quantic Dream, via Vice

Five years after its announcement, the game still lacks a release window or a final list of supported platforms. Industry analyst Mike Straw recently claimed on the Insider Gaming podcast that the title is in development hell and suggested that Quantic Dream could be sold by the end of 2026 or in 2027.

The current strike is part of a broader movement called the Summer Staking Fest by the STJV, which is intended to run until September. The action has seen support from representatives of other studios, including Ubisoft, Gameloft, Don't Nod, and Amplitude, as well as a work stoppage at Midgar Studio in Montpellier.

The STJV union is currently seeking a majority agreement with the studio to mitigate layoffs and ensure the remaining staff can successfully deliver Star Wars Eclipse.