Adam Williams was Quantic Dream’s lead writer for Star Wars Eclipse, until he left the studio that is, officially today to be a founder in a brand new studio yet to be announced.
Williams had been with Quantic Dream for nearly 10 years and was previously the lead writer for Detroit: Become Human.
He announced the news on his LinkedIn profile where he thanked those he worked with at Quantic Dream and to his future team, who’ve all joined him in taking a chance on something new.
“After almost 10 years at Quantic Dream, I am leaving to found a new studio – together with a group of very talented designers and developers,” Williams wrote.
“We can’t say too much just yet. We are working on something very innovative, very special and, for now, very secret. More on that soon.
I’ve already been in touch with many of you guys at Quantic Dream and Lucasfilm, to thank you for everything on Detroit and Eclipse. It’s been a great adventure.
A big thank you to the team, for taking this leap with us – and to the investors, for being the ideal partners on the next adventure. More on that, also, soon. To be continued…”
Eclipse sets itself in the High Republic era of Star Wars, a practically perfect choice for the kind of narrative-focused titles Quantic Dream is known for. It’s a time of peace and prosperity in the galaxy, while also simultaneously a time rife with political intrigue that’s excellent fodder for good storytelling.
That’s all, of course, if Quantic Dream can really deliver on Eclipse. Williams departure could be another sign of what’s reportedly been a trouble development period so far for Eclipse.
In 2022 Quantic Dream shot down rumours that the game wasn’t going to hit the market until 2027. If that happens, that’ll make six years between its reveal and release.
By modern game development standards that’s actually to be expected for triple-A titles. And even if that 2027 report was just a false rumour, Quantic Dream’s most recent communication about Eclipse from September 2023 – that the game is still “simmering” – doesn’t do anything to help the studio beat the allegations.
Who knows though? Perhaps next week at Gamescom ONL 2024 we’ll see a new trailer for Eclipse with a 2024 or 2025 release date, maybe Williams is leaving now because his work is entirely done on the game, and this isn’t a reflection of how development is going at all.
We’ll just have to see when we next hear about Eclipse in an official capacity.
Source – [TheGamer]
