It seems as though fans of the much-loved Deus Ex franchise are about to have their prayers answered. New information suggests that the game’s developers Eidos Montreal are currently in the early stages of developing a new Deus Ex title.
It was reported back in August that the studio, which was acquired earlier this year by the Embracer Group, was pretty keen to dive back into one of its signature IPs as soon as possible. Whilst never fully able to revisit the franchise whilst still under ownership by Square Enix, the studio’s sale to the Embracer Group back in May meant that everything Deus Ex was suddenly back on the table. According to journalist Jeff Grubb at the time, Eidos Montreal believe that Deus Ex could do “what Cyberpunk 2077 couldn’t do,” which certainly sounds like an interesting starting point for the new game.
In its acquisition statement, the Embracer Group specifically named the Deus Ex franchise as one of Eidos Montreal’s IPs with “proven global potential.” It looks like that potential will soon be realised once more, as new information from industry journalist Jason Schreier claims that the studio is already working on a new Deus Ex game.
In addition to the reveal that Eidos Montreal is currently laying down the foundations for a new Deus Ex, Schreier also states that the studio is also working in partnership with Xbox. In a surprising reveal, it looks as though they’re co-developing Fable, the highly-anticipated fantasy RPG reboot that’s currently in the works at Xbox studio Playground Games. This is the first report of the partnership, but it certainly sounds as though it could be an interesting mix.
These new nuggets of information regarding Deus Ex and the new projects at Eidos Montreal come off the back of the news that the Embracer Group has just announced the closure of one of its other studios. This was, in fact, the very recently rebranded studio Onoma, formerly known as Square Enix Montreal, which has been shut down as of today. It was also acquired at the same time as Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics in the sale from Square Enix. The studio, which was responsible for a variety of primarily mobile titles in the Hitman and Tomb Raider franchises, will see a number of its employees redeployed to Eidos Montreal, which will hopefully ease the shock of the studio’s sudden closure for its team. Part of the rationale behind this is explained as a company’s desire to focus solely on PC and console games moving forward.
It could be that there are more people required to work on a new Deus Ex title alongside the also revealed additional new IP in the pipeline at Eidos Montreal. While it’s always sad to hear of a studio’s closure, it’s undoubtedly an exciting time to be a fan of the Deus Ex titles. We’ll just have to wait and see what comes next from Eidos Montreal.