He’s leaving the studio and returning to indie dev
Following his work on Hyper Light Drifter, Teddy Dief left Heart Machine in May 2016 to take on a creative director role at Square Enix Montreal, the studio known for Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go. For almost two years now, he’s been making an unannounced game with a team that includes Fez programmer Renaud Bédard. What’s it about? Well, we’ll just have to continue wondering.
Writing on his blog, Dief has revealed his decision to leave the creative director “dream role” at Square Enix Montreal and return to “full-time indie development” back in Los Angeles.
“My team were working on a game that I deeply wish we could have shared with you,” he said. “But the business strategy of the studio shifted, and our project was sadly no longer compatible. Thankfully, the talented team remain employed and valued, assigned to other projects. Because of this shift and the loss of our project, I no longer feel this is the place for me to pursue the type of work I aspire to make – the avenues of storytelling in game design I’ve been trying to explore in my career.”
“We’re certainly not the first team to lose a project,” he added. “I’m a thousand times more privileged than most, and grateful for every beat of this games life. I’m eager to move forward.”
Just knowing who was contributing to the game, I’m bummed it won’t see the light of day. That said, this change of plans could have turned out worse, and I am eager to see what Dief will get up to next.
Leaving Square Enix Montreal [Teddy Dief]
