In May, Japanese publisher Square Enix announced that it would sell several Western studios it had owned since 2009.including Eidos Montreal (god ex) and Crystal Dynamics (tomb Raider). For Stephane D’Astous, who founded Eidos Montreal and left the company in 2013, the deal marks the end of a decade of “slow-motion train wrecks.”
In an interview with games industry, D’Astous lets go of his old bosses, blaming Square Enix’s management in both Japan and London for many of his Western studios’ problems. It refers particularly Square Enix’s relentless drive to achieve astronomical sales, which became so famous among the industry (and even fans) that it became something of a running joke.. In this case, one year Japan was expecting a $65 million profit, when with no big games to release during that time period, they were actually expecting a $65 million loss:
The pressure began to increase, and my employees towards me, I towards my superiors. I think when people are in a crisis situation where there are many situations, you do see their behavior or core values. And I didn’t like what I saw. There really was a lack of leadership, courage and communication. And when you don’t have those basics, no employee can do their job properly, especially when you’re running a studio.
I was giving up hope that Square Enix Japan would bring great things to Eidos. I was losing confidence in my headquarters in London. In their annual fiscal reports, Japan always added a sentence or two saying: ‘We were disappointed with certain games. They did not meet expectations.’ And they did that strictly for certain games that were made outside of Japan.
That doesn’t sound like a healthy working relationship! Interestingly, D’Astous adds that he believes Square Enix’s bargain sale of its western studios was not due to its performance alone, but because the publisher hopes to be bought by Sony:
If I read between the lines, Square Enix Japan was not as engaged as we initially hoped. And there are rumors, obviously, that with all this M&A activity, Sony would really like to have Square Enix in its wheelhouse. I heard rumors that Sony said that they are really interested in Square Enix Tokyo, but not the rest. That’s why I think [Square Enix CEO Yosuke] Matsuda-san put it up as a garage sale.
D’Astous goes on to say that the relationship between Japan and its Western studios “was a slow-motion train wreck” while also talking about how “the success rate of superhero games is not good” (in light of the performance of marvel avengers Y Guardians of the Galaxy), so you should definitely go read the full lengthy interview on games industry for more of this tea.
