Square Enix has announced that it is going through a variety of leadership changes at its many development studios, some of which will result in a shift in focus from AAA to mobile.
Darrell Gallagher, who was previously in charge of Crystal Dynamics, has been named the head of studios for Square Enix’s North American and European operations. However, that gig will include retaining his leadership role at Crystal Dynamics for the time being, to help build the studio’s portfolio.
Eidos Montreal has a new studio head in David Anfossi, who previously was executive producer on Deus Ex: Human Revolution. He’ll be overseeing development on the newThief title.
On the other hand, Square Enix Montreal will be shifting its focus from AAA to mobile, specifically tablets. To do so, Patrick Naud has been appointed as the studio head, and will, for now, be working on Hitman-related projects.
IO Interactive, who recently suffered layoffs, are also currently working on a new AAA Hitman game, has a new director in Hannes Seifert.
The changes come after the resignation of Square-Enix president and CEO Mike Fischer’s resignation earlier this year, and April’s announcement by Yosuke Matsuda that he would be “reviewing all Square Enix duties, business and assets on a zero-based budgeting standpoint” in order to find “what works and what doesn’t work for our company, then cast all of our resources towards extending what makes us successful and thoroughly squeezing out what doesn’t.”
I seriously doubt this is the right for Square Enix to go
