Former Eidos Montreal Developer Explains Why He Left AAA Console Games Development

A lot of well known developers in the past few years have left big development companies to join an indie firm or even start their own start up. It’s no secret that AAA console development is hectic and this could lead to an extremely stressful life. One such developer is Stephane D’Astous who was the general manager at Eidos Montreal.

Stephane left Eidos last year and went on to join a mobile studio Hibernum. In an interview with GamesIndustry, Stephane  revealed why he left Eidos Montreal.

“In the last 14 years in the gaming industry I like to consider myself working in a Ferrari garage. We were doing Ferraris, very proud of the high quality product, and you get embedded in that type of thinking. Once you are not exactly in that position you have the freedom to look at what is happening more than what you are doing,” he said.

He further explains that he is after all following the latest trend which is mobile gaming. “There are a lot of trends, and everybody knows the video game industry is like no other. There are fast paced trends and mega trends. I was trying to look at the mega trends and obviously mobile is having great traction.”

In the end it was a matter of choice for Stephane and about where he wanted to see himself in the next 5 years.

“In the console industry it is very difficult to de-risk, because you need to go all in almost every single time. Not a lot of people have the nerves and the guts to do that, and sometimes you do not have the choice, you need to do it. That is why when I said to myself, ‘Where do I see myself in five years? I want to be in a place where there are more possibilities, more growth in all senses, in creativity and innovation and business, and… I would rather be in mobile now and see myself [happy] in five years than be in console and wish that I would [have been in mobile]. I have a better chance to be happy in a healthy industry sub-sector in five years if I choose mobile.”

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