In a move that does not send encouraging signs about Square Enix or Eidos Montreal, founder Stephane D'Astous has left the company, Polygon reported today.
Eidos Montreal was responsible for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, is rumored to be working on a sequel to that very game, and is actively developing Thief (4).
"Obviously our last fiscal year was not exactly a great one," said D'Astous. "I think that senior executives at (Square Enix Europe) almost started to panic and it was difficult to know what type of changes we needed to do, and it took a lot of time before some information came out from HQ.”
Square Enix reported poor financial results for the past year, resulting in the resignation of Yoichi Wada. Square Enix of America president and CEO Mike Fischer also departed in late May.
Critically acclaimed and seemingly solid selling games like Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution were cited as financial disappointments, which came as a surprise to D'Astous and others. Hitman sold more than 3.6 million units, and Tomb Raider moved more than 3.4 million copies.
D'Astous cited growing frustration over trying to understand what the plan was going forward, and pointed towards a deep divide between the various components of the company, especially the rift between Japan and everyone else.
"Square Enix is in a tight spot because there are compromises that are made, investments that are made that should not have been and things that they didn't invest in but should have," he said. "Communication is very lacking."
Though D'Astous expressed confidence in the upcoming Thief, my time spent with the game at E3 did not say much about the prospects of that game.