Tom Henderson on troubled development of Star Wars Eclipse

Quantic Dream is currently working on Star Wars Eclipse, an action-adventure game set in the Star Wars universe. Industry insider Tom Henderson has released a video on the history of Star Wars Eclipse and the current state of the game, as alleged by various sources.

According to Henderson’s sources, the concept for the project was created back in 2013 years ago and has only recently been transformed into a Star Wars title. No playable build of Star Wars Eclipse exists at the moment.

• The game was conceived back in 2013 and was originally called Project Karma. The studio pitched it to Sony after the release of Beyond Two Souls.
• Project Karma should have been a big and ambitious game with plans to add several multiplanetary systems for players to explore.
• Sony, however, did not greenlight the concept deeming it too large-scale for the studio. The pitch might have also been turned down by Sony because Quantic Dream’s proprietary engine could not work for a game featuring large unconfined levels. The studio then pursued another another project, which later evolved into Detroit Become Human.
• The studio did not return to Project Karma until around 2020, when it broke free of PlayStation exclusivity.
• At around this time, the management of Quantic Dream allegedly considered selling the company. Some sources claim that the deal might have allowed the studio to improve its proprietary tech beyond only making cinematic games. However, the toxic work environment allegations picked by media made it impossible to find a buyer.
• At the same time, the studio explored ideas for smaller projects . Most of them were canned, with the exception of mobile game Spellcaster and Dreamland, a game set in the medieval fantasy world. The studio, however, still wanted to make another large-scale project and decided to revisit Project Karma. To that effect, Quantic Dream pitched the idea Lucasfilm, which liked it.
• The development of Star Wars Eclipse is currently facing trouble with Quantic Dream’s engine which is still unable to support open spaces and a large number of unscripted NPCs with complex AI. Adding multiplayer, which is supposedly the plan, is also problematic for the same reason.
• Development is further complicated by staffing problems. Right now, Quantic Dream has posted around 60 job listings, which is more than 30% of the current headcount of its Paris studio. Finding talent is allegedly difficult due to the reports of the unhealthy atmosphere in the studio.
• To date, Star Wars Eclipse has been in development for about 18 months.  However, Quantic Dream does not have a playable build at the moment, mainly due to the problems with the engine.
• One of the source claims that Quantic Dream might again be looking for a buyer in order to get the resources to create a new engine.
• Star Wars Eclipse could spend it development another 3-4 years, with parts of it being potentially outsourced.