It looks like Quantic Dream’s games are jumping beyond Sony’s consoles. In a partnership with Epic Games, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human are all coming to PC and will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store. These ports will be available at an undetermined time for an unknown price later this year.
Even though Epic Games is part of this deal, it doesn’t mean that these games will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store forever. Instead, the games have a one-year exclusivity deal, meaning it is likely that these games will jump to Steam or distribution platforms after that timer expires.
Regardless of the deal, it is quite peculiar to see a Quantic Dream game on a non-PlayStation system. This is because Heavy Rain, Beyond, and Detroit were all published by Sony. Indigo Prophecy (or Fahrenheit, depending on the country) was Quantic Dream’s last project that didn’t initially premiere on the current PlayStation as the Atari-published title came out on Xbox, PS2, and PC in 2005. Aspyr published the 2015 PC and iOS remaster while Quantic Dream published the 2016 PS4 version.
But Quantic Dream expressed its gratitude for Sony’s help, as evidenced by Quantic Dream co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumiere’s statement.
“We are so grateful for 12 fantastic years of collaboration with Sony Interactive Entertainment and all they have allowed us to create and produce,” said Fondaumiere. “With this new partnership with Epic, we can now expand our products to a wider fan base and allow PC players to enjoy our titles.”
This deal comes quickly after NetEase acquired a minority stake in the developer. While it stated that the goal was “to further the development and distribution of global online games” during the acquisition, it has now updated that goal to fulfill “the vision to expand Quantic Dream’s global audience by investing in future technologies and new game IP that will release on multiple platforms.” The difference now is that it now explicitly states that one of Quantic Dream’s unknown new titles will indeed be multiplatform. The matches the developer’s previous words of developing games outside of Sony’s grasp.
Heavy Rain, Beyond, and Detroit PC ports aren’t the only console games jumping ship. After many rumors, the Master Chief Collection is also going to the PC one game at a time.
PC Platforms
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The PC Platform Puzzle | Digital Distribution in 2019
Gamers are spoiled for choice in 2019 when it comes to digital storefronts. While there are definitely pros and cons to each storefront, it can be daunting to shop if you're just browsing. Here is the landscape of digital games on PC in 2019. -
Steam
The longtime default champion of the category, Valve's Steam won over consumers with amazing sales, vast selection, and indie curation. While things have been rough the past few years for the original distributor, it's safe to say that Valve will do whatever it takes to stay competitive, bar hiring a few support people. -
Epic Games Store
Created with the help of Fortnite's immeasurable success, the EGS has hit the ground running by securing a range of highly desirable PC exclusives like Metro Exodus and The Divison 2. While some frown upon these tactics, there's no denying that Epic's generous financials towards developers is shaking things up. -
GOG
Formally known as Good Old Games, GOG is known for offering older titles in addition to newer indie releases, all without any DRM. It is also the driving force behind re-releases of many retro titles that would be lost to time otherwise. Most recently, GOG teamed with Blizzard to bring back the original Diablo. -
Origin
EA's Origin is a long time Steam alternative that offers EA's lineup and a host of select third-party titles. Mainly focused on selling you an Origin Access subscription nowadays, it is a feature-rich platform that only lacks in a robust selection of games. -
Blizzard Battle.net
The home of Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Starcraft 2 recently became the home of Call of Duty as well. Activision is taking a new approach with Blizzard's PC launcher, and only time will tell if future Activision products also make the jump to Battle.net exclusivity. -
Bethesda.net
Bethesda's play at digital distribution has been a half step at best. While Fallout 76 is the first game of note to live exclusively on the platform, not many really want to play that at all. The rest of Bethesda's catalog is available, but many prefer to wait for a sale elsewhere than get in on another launcher. -
Uplay
Ubisoft's launcher is the home for every Ubisoft release, but they're not bound to the store. Unlike most places, Ubisoft sells its games everywhere, even if you have to launch Uplay after you hit play anyway. It also carries a limited array of third-party games in case you're interested. -
Itch Io_
itch.io is a completely open marketplace where anyone can publish with almost no restrictions. This used to give it a unique place in the market, but now it carries on thanks to its pro-indie messaging and low-fi atmosphere. If you want to play something extremely experimental, itch is for you. -
Kartridge
One of the newest storefronts around, Kartridge is the premium game store from Kongregate. It has a large selection of indie games big and small and a few interesting features regarding achievements. Kartridge hasn't made a huge splash, although it is planning to secure some exclusives in the near future. -
Discord
The popular chatting app has several ways to sell players games. They have a Nitro subscription service that comes with their premium options and consists of older PC gems. They've also recently announced that developers will be able to sell directly to their fans via official channels very soon.
