Ex-head of Eidos Montreal: Game companies are too dependent on money and Excel logic

Former Eidos Montreal director Stephane D'Astous stated that key decisions in the gaming industry are increasingly made based on Excel spreadsheets rather than creative passion. Amidst market consolidation and the strengthening of players like Tencent, NetEase, and Saudi Arabian investment structures, he believes that power is concentrating in the hands of fewer people with much greater resources, which affects the timelines and costs of game development.

According to him, "there are far fewer people with money and decision-making power, and their pockets are much deeper." He noted: "Current leaders no longer have the DNA they had 15 years ago; now it's more Excel than passion-driven management."

D'Astous added that teams used to be smaller, which allowed for more ambitious projects:

In 2005–2006, teams were quite small, and this led to a larger and more ambitious game, which became a logical creative process in the business. The lack of discipline to say "no" to what we call "scope creep." Someone has to say "no" if it's not feasible. All of this is also necessary for proper milestone control, because it will prevent the situation from worsening if things go wrong.