Best known for its online games in Asia, the Chinese giant NetEase is not associated with a large narrative video game. This is the ambition of his new Bad Brain studio announced on Tuesday, whose Montreal and Toronto branches will be dedicated to an original franchise, an open world steeped in horror and adventure, inspired by cult films from the 80s. .
This great production, an “AAA” in the jargon, is intended to be in line with works with a strong scenario god of war, The Last of Us And The Legend of Zelda. A somewhat irreverent launch video available on YouTube gives a glimpse into the spirit of the new Bad Brain studio. A CEO betting on the paying trends of the hour—metavers, non-fungible tokens, and aggressive monetization—watches his people’s brains explode and break free.
“We wanted to do something out of the ordinary, to have fun with industry trends, to have fun with ourselves,” says Guillaume Apesteguy, creative director at Bad Brain Game Studios. For us, it’s a real passion project, we had the chance with NetEase to meet a partner who allows us to be creatively free, without having immediate pressure. »
Free creators wanted
With some 31,000 employees and revenues approaching 14 billion US in 2022, NetEase is considered the number two in video games in China behind Tencent. Its catalog of 24 active games, out of a hundred produced since its founding in 1997, mainly includes mobile and PC games that are very popular in Asia. Knives Out, Naraka: Bladepoint And Identity V are the best known. However, the Chinese giant does not hide its intention to test the more prestigious, but riskier market of large-scale narrative games, having notably acquired Quantic Dream, developer of narrative jewels Detroit: Become Human And Beyond: Two Soulsin August 2022.
Led by Sean Crooks, producer at Ubisoft Montreal, Toronto and Great Britain for 12 years for games like Watchdogs And just dance, the group of veterans recruited for Bad Brain were won over by NetEase’s approach, says Apesteguy. “Their first question was, ‘What game do you want to make? For them, it’s an opportunity to let Canadian creators express themselves freely. We believe this is the best way to have quality games, motivated teams who work passionately on what they want to create. »
Between Spielberg and King
About twenty people are part of Bad Brain’s starting team, which will be divided equally between Montreal and Toronto without specialization. The final team size and launch date are yet to be determined. “It’s still relatively early in the creative process,” replies the creative director. Making an open-world game takes time. Being 100% owned by NetEase brings “some financial security while giving us creative autonomy,” he says.
Bad Brain’s first game is “a meeting between Steven Spielberg and Stephen King”, he sums up, in the same 80s spirit as the series. Stranger Things, with its music and cult films. “It’s something we all grew up with in the team. If we want to touch the players, it has to touch us. »
This game will not be of the “persistent universe” type, he specifies, the one that makes the studios salivate with its promise of regular income. “We are more focused on delivering quality than quantity. We prefer that the player live a memorable experience rather than absolutely trying to get more of his time. »
NetEase in brief
- Headquarters in Hangzhou, China
- 31,119 employees as of December 31, 2022
- Market value of 56.5 billion US
- Net revenues of US$13.99 billion in 2022, net profits of US2.9 billion
- Opened its first studio in Montreal in 2019
- Holds minority shares in Behavior Interactive (Montreal) and 100% ownership of Quantic Dream (Montreal and Paris).