Interviews

Square Enix Montreal interview: Patrick Naud discusses the studio's 10 year history and what we can expect in the future

Square Enix Montreal interview: Patrick Naud discusses the studio's 10 year history and what we can expect in the future
|

Square Enix Montreal is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and it's been a good decade for them The studio has created plenty of excellent games over the years including, Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go and Deus Ex Go. While those were all premium experiences, the studio has now switched to crafting free-to-play games with Hitman Sniper: The Shadows and an AR Space Invaders game in development. We recently had a chance to chat with Head of Studio Patrick Naud about their ten-year history and what players can expect in the coming years.  

Can you introduce yourself and your role at Square Enix Montreal?

My name is Patrick Naud, and I'm the Head of Studio. I've been the Head of Studio at Square Enix Montreal for nine years now.

In the ten years since the studio was founded, from your perspective, how has the mobile games industry changed?

I think it evolved. Ten years ago, it was still, I don't want to say in its infancy, but it was still early, and now the mobile business is a business. You have a lot more big players in it. There's a lot more revenue to be made, but it came at the cost of standardised mobile experiences. There were a lot more developers creating fresh experiences than today, where we see the same three or four art directions, game styles and metagame. Every time you see a new ad, it feels like it's something you've already played before. I would like us to focus on crafting great games, not just on having the best way to market them.

What did you learn throughout those ten years? Did anything about the mobile gaming industry surprise you?

There's been constant learning for the past ten years. It's been amazing to be able to get into that industry somewhat fresh because we transitioned from console nine years ago. But it was also an amazing experience to learn mobile and try it out along the way. I think that's what I love about the mobile business. There's so much more room to experiment and try new things. So I'm very happy we made the switch to mobile nine years ago.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

What would you say is your biggest achievement to date and why?

Our transition from console to mobile was, for me, a big win. So nine years ago, when we were working on consoles, we were able to take the DNA that we had and make a great transition to mobile resulting in Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Sniper Sniper. That was a big win. It was important for us to – I wouldn't say master – but to understand the mobile ecosystem and its players.

The next big win is what we're currently doing now. We've finished the transition to free-to-play, revealed two games and have a few games in development right now that show we've taken the DNA we have – to create amazing mobile games – and bring this to the free-to-play world. That's going to be a big win for us and the whole gaming industry.

Mobile games rarely crossover into mainstream gaming media. What was it like for you to see the Go games be received so well? Were you expecting it?

I'll be blunt. I was expecting it. I wasn't expecting it to be so positive, but up to a certain point, I was expecting it because they were quality experiences. This was a well-crafted approach to IP and the gameplay that people knew. So we knew we had an amazing twist to it. We knew we'd get great press out of it. There are some people that still frown on mobile, but great mobile experiences are still great games. Sadly, people forget that there are a lot more mobile players out there than console gamers.

I'm happy about the recognition, don't get me wrong. The awards are laid out in the office because we are proud. We are trying to craft a unique, different experience, and we're glad it was recognised by people that love games.

You have previously said the sales for the Go games were disappointing. How frustrating was this? Particularly considering the reception was so good?

Actually, they performed better than we expected. But there's still a limit to the amount of revenue we could gain from premium. Besides Minecraft, there's a ceiling to the amount of revenue you can get out of a premium game on mobile. Especially now. I think, seven or eight years ago - when we released Hitman Go - we would still be able to run a decent business with premium. But today, that market is getting smaller and smaller, mainly because there are amazing free-to-play experiences out there. And that's why we wanted to make the switch so that our great games would be played by more players.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

Which of the Go games is your personal favourite?

I've gotta go with Hitman Go because it was the first game that we released. It gave us the assurance that what we were doing and the approach we had to mobile was right. We could craft high-quality, fresh new mobile experiences, and that would work. It was a testament to our DNA and our approach. The learnings from Hitman Go combined with the approach we had with Tomb Raider allowed us to create Lara Croft Go, which won all of the GOTY awards in 2015.

Were there plans for any other Go games you had to abandon for whatever reason?

We loved our experience with the Go series, but it also came at a time where the premium market was reducing drastically. So, we focused on our three main IPs that we had in the West. So, Hitman, Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, and then we started looking into other genres that people would want to play.

What can players expect from Square Enix Montreal going forward?

I am focused on the short term because if you look at what happened in the past five years for us. The market changed so much that I'm mostly focused on what we're working on now. We have a few games in development, namely Hitman Sniper: The Shadows, a fresh new take on Space Invaders utilising AR. That is something I'm looking forward to everyone seeing. We also have another game that we haven't announced yet. They're all games that are new takes on these genres and hopefully will become the benchmark for genre going forward.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

The studio grew from 40 to 170 employers this year. What was the reasoning for hiring so many new members of staff?

We were 40 four years ago, but since 2017 we've been growing drastically every year. So right now, as I said, we have three games in development, but also, part of going free-to-play was building all of our technology, all of our process and infrastructure that allows us to operate our free-to-play games. Hence why we're now over 170 and, we have a lot of external partners. So, we're still growing. We actually have 25-30 jobs open at all times.

You have switched your model from premium to free-to-play. Can you tell us what your approach to monetisation will be?

Monetisation will be tailored to the experiences that we make. The goal is to make games that people want to play, keep on playing and offer them services that would allow them to keep on playing longer or would help them speed up. But for sure, there's no paywalls, no evil blockers that only paying players can go through. The goal is to craft great experiences that people will be able to play for years, and offer them services that if they want to monetise, they can.

Can you tell us anything new about Hitman Sniper: The Shadows?

It's gonna be great! That's mostly all I can say at this point. We're not ready to go public on this topic right now. There's still a lot of work that we need to do on our end. But we will have a little bit more for you in the upcoming months.

Can you tell us anything new about Space Invaders AR?

Yeah, this one too we're a few months away from communication. I'll just say that it's a free twist that no one has seen before, so that's why we're ecstatic about this experience and working with our friends at Taito and finding a new spin for that famous Space Invaders IP.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

What do you believe Square Enix Montreal will bring to the free-to-play mobile market beyond well-known licences?

Our global plan is to craft games that no one else has played before. So, find a new twist and find a new approach to a genre so that it becomes the benchmark going forward. If you look at the Go series – I think that's a good example – of taking a console IP, an action-driven IP and making it into a turn-based strategy game. But it worked. It worked because it respected the pillars of the IP, and it was a great experience tailored for mobile. So, how do we keep that DNA? By crafting an experience that is tailored to mobile that people haven't played before. That's what we're doing on Hitman Sniper, and that's what we're doing with Space Invaders. And, maybe, other things going forward.

How has the pandemic affected workflow or the company in general?

We can still function. We did the switch. Over the weekend, everyone was set up to work remotely. It took a few days to have the whole organisation ready to be able to work remotely. But we are crafting great experiences. It's hard to structure creating something. These creative discussions are often organic or informal. They all add up to raise the level of the idea that you have.

We were able to thrive through the pandemic by working at home, but I still feel that we were not yet fully efficient. We're not as good as we were prior because we are lacking on the communication side of all being together and working together on a common game. Everyone is good at doing their own tasks and progressing the production. But it takes a little bit longer to get everything down.

Do you enjoy any mobile games outside of those you make? If so, which?

I play a lot of everything. That's the issue of being in the game's business. You need to see what's out there. So, I play match-3 and hardcore collection games. Right now, I'm still playing Puzzle & Dragons, and at the same time, I'm going through Royal Match. It's basically the same game, but when you have 10 minutes waiting for a doctor's appointment, that's the kind of gameplay loop you need to play.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

There's no obvious inspiration there, but do you take anything from those games and put them into your own?

That's the great thing about mobile. You need to see what's out there and what are other people doing. What are they playing? What kind of meta? And that is why I play such a wide range of games. To see what's new and what's coming. I encourage everyone to play a lot of games as it feeds our creative minds. What could we do differently?

Would you consider working with Apple Arcade in the future?

Our focus is to craft games that will reach the most users possible. We want to make sure that the great games that we make can be played by hundreds of millions of players hence why we're not ready to restrain ourselves to one platform or ecosystem. When we make a game want to make it available to players worldwide on any possible platform.

What are the main differences in working on mobile games compared to console/PC?

There were three things. The first was controls. Making controls that are tailored to the devices in a way that is fun to interact with. Also, gameplay loops would be fun to play. And the third thing going to mobile was smaller teams which made it so that it's easier to feel like you're making games instead of making tasks on a day to day basis. The bigger team the less responsible you feel about the outcome. That's what I really loved about going mobile. Everyone feels responsible about the outcome because they are one of thirty people that have crafted these experiences. That's something that I felt you can't have on big console teams.

Stephen Gregson-Wood
Stephen Gregson-Wood
Stephen brings both a love of games and a very formal-sounding journalism qualification to the Pocket Gamer team.