Teddy Diefenbach steps down as Square Enix Montreal creative director

Teddy Diefenbach has stepped down as the creative director of Square Enix Montreal following the apparent cancellation of his team’s unannounced project.

Diefenbach, who had previously been a designer and coder for Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter, joined up with Lara Croft Go dev Square Enix Montreal in 2016 alongside fellow indie developer Renaud Bédard.

In a blog post announcing his departure, Diefenbach noted that he made the decision to step down from his position after “the business strategy of the studio shifted, and our project was sadly no longer compatible.”

“Because of this shift and the loss of our project, I no longer feel this is the place for me to pursue the type of work I aspire to make - the avenues of storytelling in game design I’ve been trying to explore in my career,” he explains. “I love the gamemakers I worked with at Square Enix Montreal. They brought incredible design, craft, and style to our game.”

Despite the project’s cancelation, he notes that the remainder of the team he worked with at Square Enix Montreal remains employed with the studio. Going forward, Diefenbach says that he plans to return to full-time indie development.