Irreconcilable differences with Square Enix Europe
Citing a lack of leadership following the failure of Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs to meet sales expectations despite all three games being well received, Eidos Montreal founder and general manager Stephane D’Astous has resigned.
“Since last year’s financial short-coming performance of Square Enix Europe, we (HQ London and GM Eidos Montreal) have had growing and divergent opinions on what needed to be done to correct the situation,” he said in a statement to Polygon. “The lack of leadership, lack of courage and the lack of communication were so evident, that I wasn’t able to conduct my job correctly. I realized that our differences were irreconcilable, and that the best decision was unfortunately to part ways.”
Speaking to the outlet, D’Astous went on to say that Square Enix “has some things to learn about how to sell their games. We are in a situation that we have great games that could have sold more. They need to attack that very, very seriously. Last year was supposed to be a home-run season, but we didn’t hit a single home run; maybe a double or a triple, but they weren’t home runs. I think in those situations when people are put into immense pressure they sometimes change.”
Commenting that he’s “quite confident in the developer side of things” at Eidos, D’Astous explained that Square Enix’s new strategy came from the top down instead of being crafted alongside studio heads. “I’ve been really communicating my concerns, communicating my suggestions, my recommendations, since March,” he said. “It has been quite tense.” Ultimately, the founder wasn’t able to make it work and, after six-and-a-half years at Eidos Montreal, resigned.
Eidos Montreal founder: Square Enix makes great games, but needs to learn how to sell them [Polygon]
