The creators of Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human have announced a new game. However, the new project is not a story-driven adventure, but a MOBA in the style of League of Legends.
The French studio Quantic Dream is best known for creating story-driven games such as Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human. But the studio’s new project is something completely different. Spellcasters Chronicles, as the newly announced game is called, is a MOBA.
That’s right. The studio, famous for its cinematic single-player games with a focus on story, is venturing into the highly competitive genre of multiplayer online battle arenas, which has been dominated for years by the top dogs League of Legends and Dota 2.
The reveal trailer below offers a first glimpse of the new game’s visuals:
What’s it all about?
Like its major competitors in the genre, Spellcasters Chronicles will also be free to play. Teams of three players compete against each other in magical arenas. The aim of the matches is to strategically capture altars in order to gain territory and ultimately destroy the opposing team’s life stones.
You take on the role of the eponymous spellcaster, who are magicians divided into classic archetypes such as tank, support, or damage dealer. What makes it special is that, in addition to casting spells and summoning creatures, you can take to the skies at any time and fly freely over the battlefield to gain a tactical overview.
Spellcaster’s Chronicles also aims to be more strategic than its competitors and expands its gameplay with a deck-building system: before each game, you assemble a deck of around 50 different spells and creatures. The trump card up your sleeve is the giant titans – powerful creatures that can turn the tide even in hopeless situations.
Disappointment for story fans
This announcement may come as a bit of a shock to fans of Quantic Dream. Instead of the usual deep story adventure with far-reaching decisions, Spellcaster’s Chronicles serves up fast-paced multiplayer action.
Studio founder David Cage describes the move into a new genre as a “challenge and source of growth.” However, the studio does not want to completely abandon its narrative expertise and plans to introduce a new “community narrative approach” in the coming months, in which players will shape the story together within the multiplayer mode. Cage has not yet revealed what this will mean in concrete terms.
Anyone who is curious can now sign up for a closed PC beta, which is scheduled to start at the end of 2025. A release date for Spellcasters Chronicles has not yet been announced. However, developer Quantic Dream plans to show the first live gameplay this month.
What do you think of Spellcasters Chronicles? Would you have preferred another story-driven game from Quantic Dream, or are you excited to see the studio breaking new ground? Let us know in the comments!
