Adam Williams (writer)

Adam Williams is a video game writer and a lead writer for Quantic Dream. His credits include lead writer of Detroit: Become Human, an award-winning game and the company's best-selling title in 2022, and the upcoming Star Wars: Eclipse.

Williams’ background is in television writing but was interested in the interactive storytelling and choice-based narrative of video games, and the numerous outcomes that arise from those decisions as opposed to linear narratives. He communicated with Quantic Dreams’ founder David Cage to ask questions about the video game industry. The correspondences developed into a formal job offering, which Williams accepted. The biggest challenge for Williams in shifting from TV to video games was transitioning from writing storylines for a viewer to passively observe to the viewer being an active participant in the outcome.

Williams said the themes he and Cage explored in Detroit: Become Human were anxieties revolving around technology replacing human labor and identity, if technology could become more than a tool and the changing relationship between humans and technology. He defended the depictions of domestic violence and violence against children in the game when a trailer was shown at Paris Games Week in 2017, and said the depictions explored real problems within society and to tell a meaningful story, not to glorify violence and there's no reason why these themes can't be discussed in games when it is in other mediums like movies and books. He said: “I can still assure you that we continue to remain true to our vision, and to David Cage’s vision, of telling an honest story with real impact. We won’t shy away from where the story takes us, as long as it’s consistent with our values as game creators. We would never tell a story that glorifies any kind of violence or social issue, but we believe the game would not have the same impact if something uncomfortable never happened, or there were no serious consequences to the player’s choices.”