Stephane D’Astous, who spent nearly a decade running Eidos‑Montréal and later held senior operations roles at Ubisoft, Krafton and iWOT Games, told Thunderpick that the current wave of game executives “are much more Excel than passion‑driven.” He argues that consolidation – fueled by investors such as Tencent, NetEase and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund – has left a handful of deep‑pocketed decision makers who care more about financial spreadsheets than artistic vision.
D’Astous recalled building the team behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution and overseeing Ubisoft Montreal’s release of the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy. He says the post‑COVID funding boom led investors to green‑light thousands of projects without assessing long‑term player engagement, a move he fears will backfire in the next three to five years. The influx of capital, he warns, encouraged scope creep and unrealistic timelines, such as demanding Witcher‑3‑scale games on limited budgets and under four years.
The veteran warns that without disciplined gate‑keeping and realistic scope limits, development cycles will become unsustainable, risking both creative quality and financial stability for the industry.
