Star Wars Eclipse Nears Collapse Rumors as Quantic Dream Faces More Layoff Claims
For Star Wars Eclipse, the pattern has been painfully familiar since the game first surfaced at The Game Awards in 2021: players hear that development is still alive, but also that the project is years out—and that key people just don’t seem willing or able to push it forward. Even with that grim backdrop, some insiders suggest the earliest possible release window could be 2027, though that estimate may be overly hopeful—especially when you consider how long the project has already been in limbo.
Key takeaways
- Insiders say Star Wars Eclipse is unlikely to ship before 2027 at the earliest, even though it was unveiled in 2021.
- French coverage claims the project is facing a collapse driven by limited resources, unclear direction, and stalled progress.
- Management is reportedly preparing to dismiss the full 115-person team from Quantic Dream’s recently ended multiplayer MOBA, Spellcasters Chronicles.
- Employees at Quantic Dream’s Paris headquarters are striking during a record heatwave while a Lucasfilm delegation reviews Eclipse’s development status.
- Workers argue Eclipse can’t be completed if the proposed redundancy plan moves forward as currently designed.
- A French game workers union says the targeted layoffs tied to a specific project may be unlawful under French rules.
Why developers fear Star Wars Eclipse may never be finished
Reporting from a French outlet, translated for English readers, says the studio’s internal situation has deteriorated to the point where Eclipse is “on the brink of collapse,” citing not just funding and staffing, but also missing vision and a lack of tangible advancement. The situation is made worse, the report adds, by the shutdown of Spellcasters Chronicles—Quantic Dream’s multiplayer MOBA—which reportedly ended earlier this month.
With that project now effectively over, management is said to be planning layoffs that would eliminate the entire Spellcasters Chronicles team of 115 people. From the perspective of Eclipse staff, that staffing loss could directly undermine the ability to finish Star Wars Eclipse, because those workers could otherwise be redirected to the Star Wars project.
The broader picture painted by employees is bleak: Quantic Dream is described as being squeezed by worsening internal constraints at the same time Lucasfilm is expected to inspect the studio’s progress. That review is reportedly scheduled to take place as Eclipse has allegedly stalled since 2022, while workers protest outside the Paris headquarters amid one of the most severe heatwaves in French history.
At the picket line, staff claim they are “understaffed” and forced to put in overtime to keep the project moving. They also argue that at least a portion of the people who worked on Spellcasters Chronicles would need to stay employed if there is any realistic chance of completing Star Wars Eclipse. One developer, Jules, is quoted saying that releasing the game with 115 people involved “wouldn’t mean we were overstaffed,” but rather that it’s simply the headcount needed.
However, the report emphasizes that the issues aren’t only about numbers. Jules describes a “top-down culture” where decisions are made at the top and employees don’t get meaningful input. In practice, he says that leads to repetitive, low-impact tasks and frequent rework: either management doesn’t take time to understand what workers are doing before communicating that the output doesn’t match their ideas, or it changes course after the fact—sometimes a month later—despite never having solicited the employee’s input in the first place.
Jules also claims the studio sells the idea that people have room to make decisions, while simultaneously making it clear that any choice that conflicts with leadership will be rejected. He says it becomes extremely difficult to function day to day because employees never know where they stand. In his words, the work can feel pointless, and the experience is “humiliating.”
Jordan, another colleague at the protest, adds that these conditions “leads to burnout,” tying together the structural problems at Quantic Dream with the report’s image of Star Wars Eclipse crashing down onto Tatooine. The team’s hope, according to the protestors, is that protesting on the same day Lucasfilm’s delegation arrives will make it unmistakable that the game “literally cannot be finished” if the current redundancy plan proceeds.
Union claims the redundancy plan could be illegal in France
In response to the reported layoffs, the French trade union STJV argues that the redundancy approach described by management may violate French labor rules. The union’s position is that companies in France can’t simply select a specific group of employees tied to a single project and dismiss them just because that project failed. Instead, the union claims layoffs must be decided through a company-wide point system that considers factors such as dependents, length of service, social circumstances, and professional skills. Under that framework, any job cuts would need to be assessed across the whole studio—meaning Star Wars Eclipse developers would also fall into the evaluation pool.
The union says it has repeatedly told Quantic Dream that targeting a particular project as part of an Employment Protection Plan (often referred to as a PSE) is illegal, and that the regional labor authority, the DREETS, would not approve the plan in its present form. Management, the union claims, responded by saying it didn’t want to touch the Star Wars Eclipse team to avoid disrupting the project. But the union argues that launching the redundancy plan has already disrupted Eclipse anyway.
Because of that, STJV is demanding multiple changes: that all planned terminations be canceled; that the Spellcasters teams be reassigned to the production of Star Wars Eclipse; that all workers be reclassified at a higher professional rank as the union believes they’re owed; and that management and creative directors—described as solely responsible for the failure—resign immediately.
Quantic Dream, the report notes, has a choice: continue with plans to dismiss the entire Spellcasters Chronicles team, which an STJV representative says would be rejected by DREETS—potentially resulting in “months wasted” in additional negotiations—or instead work with the union to reduce the damage. Either way, as Lucasfilm representatives move through the doors of the Paris studio, one conclusion remains consistent within the report: Star Wars Eclipse is still a long way from reaching players, even as the calendar keeps turning.
