Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports that the Embracer Group has cancelled a Deus Ex title following two years of development. Sources “familiar with the moves” also revealed that Eidos Montreal will see several layoffs.
The Deus Ex title was allegedly set to enter production this year per anonymous individuals, but now the studio will work on an original franchise. Neither Eidos Montreal nor the Embracer Group revealed that a Deus Ex game was in the works following the former’s acquisition. A rumor from 2022 by Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb indicated that the developer wanted to get back into the franchise and “do what Cyberpunk 2077 couldn’t”, while reports around the time also claimed that a new Deus Ex game was one of multiple games in the works at the studio.
It’s also unknown if this was supposed to be a brand-new title for the franchise, a sequel to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, or something else entirely. We’ll have to wait for more details and the official announcement of layoffs. If true, Eidos Montreal is the latest studio under Embracer to suffer from layoffs, joining New World Interactive, Crystal Dynamics, Fishlabs, and many others. Some studios, like Free Radical Design, have been shuttered wholesale.