Last month Quantic Dream confirmed that the development of Spellcaster Chronicles had been discontinued, causing 115 staff to be cut and putting stress on the team behind Star Wars: Eclipse, leading to a strike by the workforce in an attempt to save the project that was officially announced 5 years ago.
According to a report from Game Kult, at least 115 of the individuals who worked on Spellcaster Chronicles would be necessary if there’s any hope of bringing Star Wars Eclipse to light. One of the developers said that the strike is not an act of sabotage but is an attempt to save the project. This individual, Jules, also claims that they are severely understaffed. It’s also reported that they started working overtime shortly after the cutbacks were announced.
“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, because bosses know very well that passion will lead people to crunch time and that games will eventually be released. But it’s impossible to run a sustainable industry like that.
Another developer, Theo, theorized that the employees might not be passing along all of NetEase’s requests out of embarrassment, saying, “I think they’re embarrassed by certain decisions that have been imposed in addition to the cancellation of Spellcasters Chronicles, but which they haven’t revealed to us, and which might improve things on Star Wars Eclipse. But management refuses, because it would involve cutting content.”
We will continue to monitor the situation and share any updates on the development of Star Wars: Eclipse.
