Star Wars Eclipse Devs Accuse Studio of ‘Illegal Deadlines’ as Talks Stall

If it feels like Star Wars Eclipse was announced years ago, that’s probably because, well… it was.

Following its cinematic reveal trailer from the 2021 Game Awards, we haven’t really seen much of anything on the game since. Developer Quantic Dream has been busy making several games this past decade, none of which are called Star Wars Eclipse. Under the “Spotlight by Quantic Dream” label, they’ve released Sea of Solitude: The Director’s Cut, Under the Weaves, Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior, and Dustborn.

Last October, they also announced a new multiplayer game while promising that Eclipse is totally 100% still in development. Early rumors stated that Eclipse wouldn’t see the light of day until 2026 or 2027 at the earliest. That’s not looking like a very generous timeframe.

It has us wondering if the game will even launch at all. Of course, that’s all inconsequential, as the more important story recently around Quantic Dream has to do with the studio’s developers. That story took another turn this morning.

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An Open-Ended Strike is Being Called Against Quantic Dream

Following the cancellation of their MOBA Spellcasters Chronicles, Quantic Dream announced plans to “undertake an internal reorganization,” according to a statement on social media. They stressed that development of Star Wars Eclipse “is not affected” by the cancellation of Spellcasters Chronicles, and work on the game is continuing as planned.

In response to that reorganization, a strike outside Quantic Dream’s Paris headquarters began to help save the 115 Spellcaster Chronicles developers who would be effected by the “internal reorganization.” According to the French outlet Gamekult, the goal is to not only save as many jobs as possible, but also do what they can to save Star Wars Eclipse. Here’s how one developer puts it, according to the piece from Gamekult:

It’s far from being an act of sabotage. On the contrary, we’re trying to save Star Wars Eclipse We could manage to release it with 115 additional people, and that wouldn’t be ‘overstaffed’: it’s what’s needed. We’re understaffed, like in many other companies in the sector.

In a new development, French union Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) is calling for an open-ended strike (a strike without a pre-set end date) by workers at Quantic Dream.

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Quantic Dream is Accused of Doing the Bare Minimum

In a blog post, the STJV explains that Quantic Dream is imposing illegal deadlines that are forced to keep terms that will not hold up under labor administration rather than inspire confidence in the workers. They continue saying that the studio “wasted half of the negotiation time (6 weeks over a total of 3 months) to discuss the terms of negotiation.”

Beyond that, the STJV paints a grim picture of how things are going. They claim that CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière, as well as other executives at the company, is merely aiming to do the bare minimum.

This third-rate money-grubbing translates into actions that are beyond understanding. For instance, the company is complaining about the training costs for laid-off workers, seemingly forgetting that it is a legal obligation. It is never enjoyable to pay one’s debts, so we would like Quantic Dream to share with us its magic trick to be exempted from it.

Finally, the STJV points out that Quantic Dream is owned by NetEease, “a group which is doing really fine, and as such is able to offer more than decent layoff packages to the victims of its management.” They also stress that, at the end of the day, they’re making sure they’re looking out for the workers who were sidelined without work for two months after the cancellation of Spellcasters Chronicles. Additionally, they state that “before terminating contracts, Quantic Dream should first fulfill their most basic obligations.”

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