The Quantic Dream French studio lost one case but won another regarding libel.

Let’s start with the game that we discussed a few days ago. Kotaku expanded on the rumours regarding the Star Wars game. They claim David Cage’s team isn’t going to focus on a cinematic experience with QTEs. Instead, they would create a traditional action combat system, and the game might even have an open-world, multiplayer approach. That wouldn’t be a surprise, as Cage himself admitted in a WCCFTech interview that he wouldn’t rule out making an open-world title…

The new Montreal studio is reportedly handling the Star Wars game. Still, Kotaku’s sources claim technical hurdles, such as an outdated engine, and there are people in the studio who would still put story first and gameplay second (in other words, they still are old-fashioned, as this approach was used in their previous games). Tom Henderson, who started the rumours, now added on Twitter that Unit Image will provide a teaser for the game… and Disney’s approval is all that is needed. This company has worked on many trailers in the past (God of War, Far Cry 6, Beyond Good & Evil 2, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare, For Honor, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Baldur’s Gate 3, Death Stranding…).

Quantic Dream went independent after receiving investment from a Chinese giant, NetEase, in 2019. The studio took two publications, namely Le Monde and Mediapart, to court after they wrote about the situation within the studio (interestingly, a third publication, Canard PC, was never part of the case….). The ruling has happened (and we kept an eye on the case in the past years). Solidaires Informatique and STJV, two workers’ unions, updated us about how Cage has lost the case against Mediapart (who were deemed innocent). Still, the studio WON against Le Monde (they committed libel). The ruling happened on September 9, and nobody commented about the outcome until now.

SJTV, the video game workers’ union, wrote: “We were pleased to learn of Médiapart’s victory against Quantic Dream, which was dismissed of its defamation charges against the newspaper. The court recognized the seriousness and good faith of the journalists’ work. However, Le Monde has been condemned. We will need the exact reasons for the ruling to understand this disturbing asymmetry, but this is a step backwards for freedom of expression and the word of all victims of sexism, sexual harassment and generally deplorable working conditions, to the benefit of an employer who uses all his resources to silence any accusation. […] Let’s remember right away that in this case, justice does not rule on the integrity of the content of the articles, either way. Therefore, the management of Quantic Dream would do well to avoid claiming to be cleared of all suspicion, even though its claims have been dismissed. Let’s also remember that this judgment recognizes the absence of personal animosity, an angle that was central to Quantic Dream’s accusation. It is now high time for the management of Quantic Dream to put an end to its communication and intimidation manoeuvres.”

So the studio did not necessarily win the case.

Source: WCCFTech, Gamesindustry