Eidos Montreal general manager Stephane D'Astous explains why he quit the company

Thief and Deus Ex: Human Revolution team member Stephane D'Astous, has explained why he quit Eidos Montreal to pursue a career outside the AAA sector.

Speaking with GI.biz, D'Astous - who is now a member of mobile and social studio Hibernum - said, "I am really proud of what was built in Montreal.

"People think there was some bad blood [but] it was really blown out of proportion... it is all good, it is business, and we are all colleagues at the end of the day. It is a small industry... Since late summer, I took some time off because I never had the occasion to take some really unplugged time."

D'Astous added that while he enjoyed his tenure at Eidos Montreal, he felt that the studio's focus on big production allowed him less freedom to look at growing trends like mobile.

"In the last 14 years in the gaming industry I like to consider myself working in a Ferrari garage," he went on. "We were doing Ferraris, very proud of the high quality product, and you get embedded in that type of thinking. Once you are not exactly in that position you have the freedom to look at what is happening more than what you are doing.

"There are a lot of trends, and everybody knows the video game industry is like no other. There are fast paced trends and mega trends. I was trying to look at the mega trends and obviously mobile is having great traction…"

He stressed that in the console industry, it is difficult for companies to "de-risk," while placing big bets on the project and that not a lot of people have the guts to do that.

"Sometimes you do not have the choice, you need to do it. That is why when I said to myself, 'Where do I see myself in five years? I want to be in a place where there are more possibilities, more growth in all senses, in creativity and innovation and business, and... I would rather be in mobile now and see myself [happy] in five years than be in console and wish that I would [have been in mobile].

"I have a better chance to be happy in a healthy industry sub-sector in five years if I choose mobile."

Do you think D'Astous is better off in the mobile and tablet space? Let us know what you think below.

Via Gamespot.