The Canadian Videogame Awards were given out on April 21, and needless to say our baby gave us new reasons to be proud.
It was a pretty magical evening for Eidos Montreal as Deus Ex: Human Revolution was nominated in 8 categories and won in 5: Best Console Game, Best Audio, Best Game Design, Best Writing and Best New Character. We were in excellent company at the event and we wish to congratulate the other nominees including Ubisoft, Bioware, EA and THQ as well as the other great winner of the night, Superbrother: Sword & Sworcery by Capy and Jim Guthrie, which also earned five awards.
This year, Eidos-Montreal celebrates its fifth anniversary. We go big around here, so to mark the special event we're unveiling the studio expansion. The cutting edge new installations include a mini-theatre, a recording studio, a cafeteria and a whole bunch of new desks ready to accommodate our growing team.
We seized this opportunity to chat with the very first employees of the studio and remember the highlights of the past five years. Eidos-Montreal General Manager Stephane D'Astous and Deus Ex: Human Revolution Producer David Anfossi, Game Director Jean-François Dugas and Artistic Director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête sat down with us to share their memories of Eidos-Montreal in the early days.
Without you, this episode wouldn't be possible. You provided most of the content, we just read it.
In part one, Deus Ex: Human Revolution game director Jean-Francois Dugas, lead narrative designer Mary DeMarle, and game designer Antoine Thisdale read fanfic created by the community. There's a love story, a crossover with Naruto, and even one that may be categorized as slashfic.
"How is having Explorer/Traveler/etc flash up on screen beneficial to either immersion, gameplay or story?"
That's the question for today's minisode. Confident in his design choices, game director Jean-Francois Dugas stands strong and calmly explains, at great length too, why the prompts appear onscreen.
Did you know it's possible to get every augmentation in the game in one playthrough? That's what some very capable community members claim. Even more, was game director Jean-Francois Dugas privy to this information? And would such careful manipulation of Deus Ex: Human Revolution's game mechanics break the game's balance? These questions, and more, are answered on today's confessional episode.
The original question, submitted via Tumblr, is as follows:
"Hey guys, I know most studios are tight knit bro (and brodette) circles where you all do fun stuff together. (i.e: Naughty Dog morning Yoga sessions, EA soccer games, etc) What kind of fun things do you guys do? Also have you had Duck in a Can?"
Judging from the crowds at our open house events, you guys are dying to get a peek behind the scenes and see how your favourite games are made. You know us, we can't deny our fans anything. For those who can't make it to our studio in person, we have prepared little photo tours of the most secret recesses of Eidos-Montreal.
First, we're stopping by the playtest lab to chat with Alexandre Dessaint, Research and Playtest Manager, who graciously agreed to answer our questions.
