What they're saying
Find out what some of our employees think of their work and of EIDOS-MONTREAL's philosophy. Please note that the opinions expressed are strictly personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of EIDOS-MONTREAL. Jean-Arthur Deda, Senior 3D programmer >>Read my testimonial
“I think there's a correlation between the quality of a game and the quality of the communication in the team that develops it.”
Active in the games industry since 2000
Born in Hunedoara, Romania
Came to
EIDOS-MONTREAL for "the team, the vibes". His
insights about
programmer-artist communication;
freedom, trust and creativity; and
Quebec, tolerance and creativity.
The team, the vibes
The main reason I came to EIDOS-MONTREAL was the team - I knew
many of these people very well, and I enjoyed working with them.
The vibes are really good and things run smoothly.
Programmer-artist communication
I think there's a correlation between the quality of a game and
the quality of the communication in the team that develops it. I
find that artists and engineers in our industry often seem to live
in two different worlds, which works against their common goal.
Things shouldn't be like that: we need what I would call an overlap
area, a neutral area where their knowledge can merge. Technology is
the brush that artists use to express their vision, and it seems to
me that things work more smoothly when the artists fully grasp the
properties of the brush, and engineers see the art direction and
understand how the artists use the brush. Strangely enough, this
overlap area seems to be a side effect of human curiosity,
communication and understanding.
Freedom, trust and creativity
Excessive control, micromanagement and a lack of trust cause
more problems than they solve. Power can be a trap for both
parties, especially if it's used for the wrong reasons. If you have
to answer a number of micromanagement questions, you don't feel
trusted and you may block your creativity to play it safe and avoid
making mistakes. Fortunately, the team behind Deus Ex 3 has enough
experience to see through this - I feel there's a lot more trust
here. With freedom comes creativity. To develop a commercially
viable product, you need to have a balance between being creative
and playing it safe.
Quebec, tolerance and creativity
Quebec is the place to live if you are passionate about what you
are doing. People are nice, understanding and they have a very
constructive attitude. I see Quebec as a place where things happen
as a side effect of doing what you love to do. It's a place where
people like Domina Jalbert [who invented the Parafoil, an airfoil
used in paragliders, kites and modern parachutes] and Jean
St-Germain [who built the first recreational vertical wind tunnel
in 1980] had the freedom to do what they loved to do, as crazy as
it seemed to everyone else.
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Mary Demarle, Senior narrative game designer >>Read my testimonial
“I think sharing ideas and being more collaborative works better in small groups, where voices can be heard.”
Active in the games industry since 1997
Born in Rochester, USA
Drawn by a story-centric start-up, which means, among other
things, wearing
many hats. Other themes include
writers and sharing ideas on smaller teams,
longer development times, the
third Deus Ex and
being in Montreal, a
diverse and stimulating city.
Story-centric start-up
Of course, Eidos is a very well-known company in the world, and
it works on great titles, many of which are very
story-centric. Also important was the fact that a new studio
was just starting in Montreal, which is a city I love. I've been in
the game industry for over ten years and the most exciting
companies I've worked with were the ones that were small and just
starting to grow, because a lot of really cool challenges come with
building a company.
Many hats
Like the fact of working with limited resources on a big vision:
limited resources usually mean you don't have enough people to work
it. This allows many of the people to wear many hats and to have
more to say on the product they're working on, and to bring more to
it. When you have [very large teams], people tend to get
slotted in particular tasks, and even though that may be their
forte, they have other, very important skills that may be
overlooked. Here, they want to limit the size of the teams.
Of writers and sharing ideas on smaller
teams
As a writer, I think I have one of the most misunderstood jobs
in the industry, because people think of the writer as, "You just
put the words down on the page". In a small team, however, the
writer becomes very integral [to the process] and actually helps
shape the ideas and directions of things. I think sharing ideas -
being more collaborative - works better in small groups, where
voices can be heard. [If people aren't open to ideas from other
areas], it can definitely be a problem. I think it's always a
difficult balance to maintain: you have to be willing to hear the
ideas of others, and you also have to be willing to accept when
your own ideas are not being heard. You're more likely
to realize that you can have a voice, but you are also able to keep
the personal communication going, to understand why your ideas may
not work. I think it's easier to understand that in a small
group.
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Longer development times
The complexity of the story is based on the type of the game
you're dealing with. Many games just need a very simple story line,
and many need a very complex and deep one. When you have
shorter periods of time, you have to scale down your story and your
design ideas. It obviously takes much longer to develop a deep and
complex story, and since the game we're working on is going to be a
very deep story, having a longer development time ensures not only
being able to do it but being able to get it right.
Third Deus Ex
When I played the first game, I realized that so much of it is
centered on the story that it automatically calls for a deep and
interesting story line, and that was a big reason for me to want to
be here and to work on it. Another reason is the fact that
[Eidos] games are very well recognized, and have built
a loyal fan base. The development team saw opportunities
to expand those games beyond their initial focus, and that's always
a very interesting challenge: to create another version of
something that is much loved, [a version] that will grow beyond it
without upsetting the people who love it, and yet will be
interesting to people who may not have liked it or may never have
heard of it.
Being in Montreal
I grew up on the East Coast, in the U.S., so I enjoy the change
of seasons. California is very nice; certain parts are much
nicer than others - I worked in L.A. for a while, which I didn't
like that much, and I worked in San Diego, which I think is one of
the nicest places in California. But at heart I'm someone who grew
up on the East Coast, and I prefer the lifestyle and the changes of
scenery.
Diverse city
Montreal itself is a very diverse city. It has a lot of
different cultures that blend within it and that's something I've
always found very appealing. I'm learning French, I can speak
"un peu" and I can understand a bit more. It can be
intimidating when you don't understand what people are saying, but
at the same time it's really interesting to be immersed in another
culture, in another way of seeing things. I really enjoy that
aspect of it. Another reason I like being here is that I'm not too
far from home. I have a big family and they're mostly centered in
upper state New York and Vermont, so I get to see them a lot
more.
Stimulating city
In Montreal, the game community is growing and getting bigger.
My chosen profession is games, and I love working in games.
Especially as a writer, it's a whole new challenge, because no one
quite knows yet how to really tell a story in games, we still
haven't invented the language yet. Since I'm working in games, I
want to live in a city that appeals to me as well, and Montreal a
very diverse city and it's drawing in a whole community of gamers
and game developers. It's good because you start to learn from each
other. You need the outside stimulus to keep everything fresh and
new, and you also get stimulated by your colleagues because the
sharing of ideas can create stronger, new, original ones. So,
both of those forces coming together is really valuable.
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Paul Gordon, Tester >>Read my testimonial
“It feels like a team, a family (…). It's a really nice atmosphere.”
Active in the games industry since 2005
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Liked Eidos games, and enjoys the
open door policy; as well as
being a kid and being happy going to work.
The games
I liked some of their [Eidos] games already, that was one of my
major reasons for coming here. Also, the company I worked for only
did game testing, while here there are game designers, programmers
and so on, and so I thought this would be a good way to gain
experience. I studied in film and multimedia, and I love film and
television, and media in general, and two games from this
company were actually turned into movies. Given the status of the
QA team here, I figured I would have more mobility. I can talk to
some of the people and actually find out how I can become adept at
creating games or selling games, marketing, etc. Who knows?
Maybe in a few years from now I'll be writing scripts!
Open door
So far, I see it's pretty much an open door policy everywhere.
You can ask anyone almost anything and they will take the time to
help you out as best as they can or direct you to the right area. I
really like that: I don't have to be afraid, just because I'm in
QA, that someone in Designing or Programming or Management won't
answer me. It feels like a team, a family, which is really good.
It's a really nice atmosphere.
"Being a kid" and being happy going to work
The best part is that for eight hours of the day I can be a
kid! I do my work at the same time, but it's so
relaxing. I've worked at a lot of different places, in
different types of jobs, but here I've never got up once in the
morning saying to myself, "Oh my God, I have to go to work!". I
don't have that feeling at all. It just feels really good, I feel
relaxed, I'm not stressed about anything. It's not just about money
sometimes, you know, you have to be happy in what you're doing and
I'm very happy here.
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Elliot Gozansky, IT Network manager >>Read my testimonial
“It’s a friendlier work environment, everyone knows your name…”
In the game industry since 2000
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Was drawn by the
challenge of a start-up and the
worker-friendly environment.
The challenge of a start-up
This is exactly what I expected in a startup company. The
challenge of bringing together a team - that's the beautiful part
of a start-up: you have an open tarp to paint on. I'm enjoying the
fast pace, building the site. There's always little fires, little
things that have to be tweaked and fixed, and it has to be done
fast. I just hope it's not going to slow down at any time! My
deadlines are production deadlines; my goal is to make sure [the
production teams] get their game out on time. I can't be holding
them back, so my main objective is to make sure they have what they
need. They need support, they need excellent network conditions
while maintaining a high level of security, they need proper
services, state of the art servers - they need everything to
function, all the time.
A worker-friendly environment
I like the smaller, more family-oriented environment. I missed
it at my previous job. I enjoy the closeness of a smaller company.
It's a friendlier work environment: everybody knows your name! You
walk down the hall, people say good morning. It's more enjoyable,
versus the "everyone's a number" type of thing!
François Lapikas, Senior game designer >>Read my testimonial
"As soon as I heard that this would be happening in Montreal, I just had to come here."
Active in the game industry since 2000
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Selected EIDOS-MONTREAL for three reasons:
the project,
the team, and
the culture (in that order). Also speaks of
communication,
deadlines and
quality.
The project
Deus Ex is a game I played when it came out. As soon as I heard
this was happening in Montreal, I had to be part of it! This is the
type of game I like to play; it's a really good challenge. What's
nice is that we're not starting from scratch. We have a foundation
to build on. We already know what worked and what didn't, and
that's worth gold. The design stage was really great. In the first
months of the project, we decided what we wanted to do, and what
direction we wanted to take. Things go really smoothly with
Jean-François Dugas [the lead designer]. Often, in a video
game, people get lost right from the start because they haven't
clearly defined what they want to do, and that can drag on for
years: you see projects where people still don't know where they're
going after a year and half, two years.
The team
My second motivation to come here was that there were people I
had worked with two, three, five years ago. I didn't have to get to
know them or learn how to communicate with them: I could jump right
in and start working. Right now, everyone on the team loves
everyone, which makes a big difference. You can relax and focus on
your work because you don't have all these questions going on in
your mind. That can really undermine your concentration - even if
you try to ignore it, it's always there in the background, keeping
part of your brain busy. Here, I see none of these problems. I feel
comfortable going up and talking to anyone on the team and saying
what I think. I know they won't feel hurt, because it's not
negative. I'm not trying to criticize them; it's completely about
the project.
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Communication
I've seen teams with up to 150, 200 people. Here we want to keep
it around 80, which means we have to be more versatile, even though
some of us will probably specialize in one area or another. You
can't build a video game alone. Communication is crucial, and if
you have problems with another team member, it's likely to break
down. If certain key people stop talking to one another, that's an
enormous challenge - and it's been known to happen. Teams often
take on the profile of their leader, so if the managers don't get
along, their teams will also have trouble communicating. That's
really not happening here.
A culture based on trust
A game company should trust its employees. If we're here, it's
because we have certain skills. In other companies, I've seen
leaders who didn't trust us, so they'd come over and tell us what
to do, and what not to do. That kind of micromanaging undermines a
team's motivation and causes conflicts. Communications go sour and
it gets very hard to meet deadlines, because the design can change
at any minute. Right now, I can tell that the studio really trusts
us a lot, starting with David [Anfossi], the producer; same for
Stephan [D'Astous] and the head office: we really feel supported.
I'm not worried that in three months from now or towards the end of
the project someone is going to say: "Actually, this isn't what we
wanted, so you have to do this part over again". I feel that
[EIDOS-MONTREAL managers] have closely reviewed and approved what
we've done so far, so we're on solid ground and we can move on to
the next step.
Longer development schedules
The more time you have, the more you can push the envelope and
take risks; the less time you have, the more you have to play it
safe. [More time] allows us to try a lot more things, and we can
also learn a lot more. We often hear that we learn from our
mistakes, but I believe that we actually learn when we succeed in
doing something right. There are millions of errors to make, but
far less ways of doing things right. Once you've found one of them,
you learn a lot more.
Quality
At the moment, we're not too stressed about time. It's more
about quality. We want to make sure we live up to everyone's
expectations.
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Emmanuel-Yvan Ofoé, Project Manager, QA >>Read my testimonial
« I like the fact that we’re testing games that come from all over the world. »
Active in the game industry since 1998
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
For Emmanuel-Yvan, working at EIDOS-MONTREAL is an opportunity,
a chance to learn, to
test games from everywhere in the world, to
work with teams from abroad, and to
have a privileged status in the
industry.
An opportunity
I saw EIDOS-MONTREAL as an opportunity, a start-up I could
contribute to and leverage my knowledge and experience to help the
company develop. I left a slightly better job and risked taking a
step back, so to say, to assess things better - and learn, too. In
my previous job, we were pretty much self-taught. We had acquired
our own techniques, our own view of things, our own ways of
communicating…
A chance to keep on learning
Now, I'm in a place where the practices
are different. That gives me an opportunity to learn, develop my
skills, and share what I know. It means that in five years, instead
of remaining in the same place I'll have acquired more expertise by
acquiring a broader perspective and learning new techniques. When
you work with people who work differently and have different
standards, you expand your skills. It feels like being paid to go
back to school! Of course, I have to change my ways of doing
things, but my studio manager is highly qualified, which helps me a
lot. Our goal is to attain a higher level of quality as a group,
not as individuals.
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Games from the world over
I like the fact that we're testing games from everywhere:
Australia, Scandinavian countries, England, the US... The QA
department is in direct contact with the UK [head office], which
assigns us our projects, and that is a little different from what
I've known before. [Production teams] have deadlines, and we're
there to help. Our job is to find all the problems as quickly as
possible, so they can make corrections as fast as possible, so we
can come out with a game of the best possible quality.
Working with teams abroad
Through all of this, we strive to establish the best
communications so that developers - who are often in studios abroad
- can have a common understanding of the corrections to be made. We
work the same way with off-site development teams as we do with
in-house ones, but we communicate differently; we don't talk with
everyone on the project, only to certain people like the producer
or the project manager. When you work on in-house projects, you
talk to the programmers, sound engineers, etc., and you get a lot
of information. The challenges are not the same. I like what I do.
I don't get tired of it at all! I like being able to bring this
level of quality and communication, and help [production teams]
maximize their chances of success.
A privileged status
I've worked on more than 50 games in my career and when you do
that, you end up knowing pretty well what works and what doesn't.
Therefore I can share my knowledge with production people. Some
game companies have a rather poor opinion of the test department.
They see it mostly as a way to get past the door, and its role
seems quite secondary: it's a place you go to at the very end of
the development process... Here, QA is an integral part of
production. That's one reason I came to work here: production and
QA form a whole, they are enshrined in the basic vision. In other
words, there is a will, as the years go by, to constantly include
the testing team and its expertise into the whole.
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