For Eidos video game makers, the goal is ‘to deliver emotions’
Producing video games is big business, but the way David Anfossi sees it, it’s also art.
Anfossi is head of Eidos Montréal, one of the city’s leading videogame producers.
Each title his company works on usually takes three to five years to develop and costs between $75 million and $100 million.
Marketing the game costs another $30 million to $50 million. But it’s not just about dollars and cents, Anfossi said in an interview at Eidos’ headquarters on de Maisonneuve Blvd. just west of Bleury St.
“We have 500 employees and that makes us one of the biggest video-game studios in the world,” Anfossi said.
“But our mission is all about crafting emotions. It’s as simple as that. That’s really our studio’s development philosophy. We try to deliver emotions.
“We’re not a sausage factory. We do things the right way and we take the time necessary to make sure it’s done right.
“It’s an artisanal philosophy. But with budgets that are AAA. We work on blockbusters . ... Video games are a mix of the arts, technology, culture, animation.
“We touch on a lot of different things and our challenge is to bring that all together.”
The latest blockbuster is Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which was launched across the globe in midSeptember. It is the latest instalment in one of the most successful franchises in the history of video games, and it is the third Tomb Raider game the Montreal studio has produced, in collaboration with U.S. video-game developer Crystal Dynamics.
On the first two, Crystal Dynamics took the lead, but this one was primarily developed and produced at Eidos’ Montreal studio.
Eidos Montréal is also working on a new Avengers video game, the first in a series of games to be developed in collaboration with Marvel Comics.
The studio is also currently producing another major project, but Anfossi is not at liberty to give details at this point.
Eidos Montréal is owned by the Japanese video-game giant Square Enix, which produces Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts. Anfossi says the parent company gives the Montreal outfit lots of creative freedom.
Eidos is just one of many booming companies here in the videogame sector.
The Quebec government investment arm Investissement Québec reports there are 230 companies in the sector in Quebec and that it employs more than 10,000 people.
Montreal ranks fifth in the world in terms of video-game production, after Tokyo, London, San Francisco and Austin.
Anfossi has been a key player in the video-game biz in Montreal for years.
Originally from France, he arrived in 2002 “without a job, with nothing, looking for adventure,” and he began working at Mega Bloks before snaring a gig at powerhouse French video-game producer Ubisoft in 2004.
Three years later, he became employee No. 2 at the startup Eidos Montréal, the first hire of original studio head Stéphane D’Astous.
Anfossi says Montreal became a video-game hub because it’s an ideal place for companies such as Eidos and Ubisoft.
“With the establishment of so many major video-game companies here, that’s helped the development of college and university programs dedicated to video games,” Anfossi said.
“So that’s created an incredible pool of talent here.
“The city also has a booming visual-effects industry. Plus, the fact that the city is a meeting point between Europe and North America is super interesting for the cultural industries here.
“Montreal is like an ideal setting for creative industries. There is also an openness of spirit here. I haven’t seen that anywhere else.”
In fact, though there’s a big talent pool, Eidos and many of the other companies are always on the lookout for new employees, and Anfossi believes they need to create even more programs to increase the amount of qualified personnel.
“We’re looking for all types of people, from very junior-level posts to extremely high-level jobs,” Anfossi said. “It depends on the project. For example, we’ve created an artificial intelligence department and we have a big focus on that right now. And we’re attracting people with PhDs from universities like Stanford.”
We’re not a sausage factory. We do things the right way and take the time necessary ...