Rumors first emerged about it last December, and it was seemingly responsible for layoffs at the time. However, the project has allegedly been in the works since early 2019. Cue the gamut of trouble development tropes, from constantly changing engines (four in total throughout), a massive budget (which apparently went “well beyond nine figures”) and “narrative direction conflicts.”

The development costs are also reportedly responsible for the cancellation of a new Deus Ex title. Henderson describes Wildlands as an “open-world third-person action-adventure game” with a protagonist named River. Possessing a companion/mount known as “Redheart,” she’s part of the Spiritbounds and seemingly works to stave off “bad spirits.”

If all internal troubles weren’t enough, Wildlands was allegedly “almost complete.” “It has recently passed key milestones and was in the debugging phase, with a tentative release date planned for later this year,” wrote Henderson. So why the cancellation? He believes that Embracer (which owns Eidos Montreal) may have soured on it. Why so late? Your guess is as good as ours.

Regardless, it’s another heavy blow to the studio, which has already suffered numerous rounds of layoffs, and where it goes from here remains to be seen.

“Changing project needs and impacts across production and support teams” has caused the same, as the studio assured that the decision didn’t reflect the employees’ “talent, dedication, or performance.” While focusing on adapting, it also wants to support the affected employees.

The exact reason for Anfossi’s departure is unknown, with Eidos Montreal simply thanking him for his contributions and wishing him “the best in his future endeavors.” While it hasn’t yet announced a replacement, a “transition plan” is currently in the works with more details to come.

The studio’s last round of layoffs was in December 2025, affecting an untold number of employees, but it’s far from the biggest. Following its acquisition by the Embracer Group in 2022, layoffs occurred in 2024 due to the latter’s heavy cost-cutting measures. Another round of layoffs occurred in April 2025, affecting 75 employees.

Of course, the studio has also allegedly seen numerous project cancellations throughout the years, including a rumored Lord of the Rings-style card game, a Legacy of Kain reboot, a new Deus Ex, and much more. It’s far from the only developer to suffer layoffs over the last few tumultuous years, but at this point, you can only hope that it catches a break.

As part of his time at the studio, McCrea said that he “created high-quality hard surface models and modular kits for environment props using Maya and Unreal 5,” and “collaborated closely with concept, level design, and tech art teams to develop immersive, performant game spaces in Unreal Engine 5.” This, along with the fact that he also worked as part of creative review teams to offer feedback and mentions of maintaining “strong visual storytelling and fidelity,” indicates that the project might be quite far along in its development.

It is worth noting that McCrea didn’t spend much time at Eidos Montreal, according to his LinkedIn profile, unlike his previous stint at Ubisoft, where he spent more than four years as an environment artist.

The idea of a game being of “AAAA” quality has been considered a running joke among the gaming audience, thanks in large part to the statement’s use by Ubisoft when describing its pirate-themed multiplayer title Skull and Bones. Another instance of the company’s use of the statement was discovered recently, with Ubisoft producer Krasimira Yakovlieva referring to Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Assassin’s Creed Shadows as being AAAA games. Ubisoft had used the term to justify the $70 price tag it was aiming for with Skull and Bones before the multiplayer game’s release.

As for Eidos Montreal, its last major release was Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy all the way back in 2021. Little has been revealed about the studio’s next game since then, aside from reports about various cancelled projects, which included a new Deus Ex, a reboot of Legacy of Kain, and even a card game based on The Lord of the Rings. Eidos Montreal has also been working as a support studio on the development of various games, including Fable, Grounded 2, and OD. All these projects followed the studio’s internal codename scheme, specifically the letter P followed by a number.

The report indicated that Eidos Montreal is currently developing a project dubbed P22. The game has been described as a major open-world third-person action adventure project that is being made by the team behind 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

December also saw Eidos Montreal get hit by a round of lay-offs, which reports have indicated were part of yet another one of its projects, dubbed P11. These lay-offs, according to the report, revolved around the fact that conceptualisation and systems development had been completed. The game itself is rumored to be released this year.

Eidos-Montréal is working on an Unannounced AAAA game

— Timur222 (@timur222.bsky.social) 2026-01-14T03:04:08.667Z

But every so often comes a game that’s so ambitious it aims to combine the best elements of titles across genres into an experience, and has all of those disparate additions work so well they become an entirely unique experience, and one that’s unforgettable and memorable. And while there have been some brilliant examples of such titles in recent years, there hasn’t been anything quite like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

But why not? Yes, a few titles have come close, but they don’t scratch the particular itch that this one does. Join us as we take a look at what makes a game whose title hides the brilliant cohesion of its many systems that make it a memorable romp through a dystopian, cyberpunk-inspired world in which man and machine are increasingly becoming synonyms.

It was going to be a challenge to top the cliffhanger that Human Revolution set up, and Mankind Divided doesn’t even try to. That’s a very clever choice, allowing the developers to bring a more focused narrative to the table while managing to incorporate familiar gameplay elements from past titles, some coming with new twists.

But let’s focus on the story for now. With the augmented beings driven to extreme violence at the end of the previous instalment, Mankind Divided cleverly speeds up the clock a bit, allowing the dust to settle on those events and presenting the aftermath as a narrative vehicle for them to tackle some complex themes.

The result is a gritty, sometimes dark narrative in which returning protagonist Adam Jensen has received some handy new augmentations and is ready for another adventure in which the stakes are quite high, involving the fates of all augmented beings. This is a clever move, although it takes a while for it to become evident in the game’s story.

Its placement ensures that the stakes are immediately raised, working well with the game’s branching narrative to ensure that all of your past decisions now come into play, shaping the impact your actions have on the game’s world for better or worse. It’s a choice-based narrative that’s quite good, and perhaps even on par with the one in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, a title that has quite a few possibilities in its story based on your decisions as Geralt.

Jensen has a similar impact as a protagonist, and the story often has narrative branches that could have you smiling with relief for having chosen the right decision according to your personal canon, or even going so far as to restart a playthrough if the consequences of your actions were too much for you to handle.

It was a level of complexity that was quite rare for games in 2016, and although the gaming world has since caught up, it isn’t easy to craft a story as riveting as the one in Mankind Divided, despite a few plot points not hitting as hard as we would have liked, thanks to the experience’s length. But then again, a longer game might have run the risk of the narrative outstaying its welcome.

But even if the story hadn’t clicked as well as it did, Mankind Divided always had its gameplay to back it up.

The very first improvement over its predecessor that quickly became evident was Mankind Divided’s refinement of the franchise’s stealth mechanics. With the option for sneaking up on enemies for either lethal or non-lethal takedowns, hiding their bodies to prevent your cover being blown, cover-to-cover movement, and hacking, Jensen had a stealth toolkit that could rival even the best in the stealth business.

These additions made Mankind Divided all the more conducive to a more subtle, silent approach than previous titles in the Deus Ex franchise, and perhaps even other games, thanks to how well-implemented the mechanics are.

It’s also a good idea to talk about level designs at this point, and how they tie in the idea of branching possibilities from the story into the gameplay. There are always multiple ways to approach a problem in the game, with those solutions often relying on specific augments that you’re likely to have if you’re leaning toward specific playstyles.

That automatically means that you’re not punished for choosing a specific character archetype, something that other RPGs don’t get right on many occasions. Yes, your hacking skills may not be up to the task of disabling that pesky security system. But if your set of augments is good enough, you could always tear it off the wall if you wish.

But it goes deeper than that. There are surely at least a few other ways around the panel, waiting for diligent players to discover them, and each one potentially leading you to stumble along a chain of side quests that are as good as the ones in the main story. No matter what you’re doing in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, there’s a very strong chance that there’s a better way to do it waiting for you to figure it out.

But that could easily get overwhelming in a game as complex as this one. However, it’s all presented so organically that choosing your augs based on the situation at hand becomes second nature. Plus, if a quiet approach doesn’t work, there’s always the option to get your guns out of their holsters for some good ol’ fashioned shooting.

And boy does this one deliver on that front. The cover system works as well for the game’s gunplay as it does for its stealth, and taking enemies out with a variety of great guns and weapons is a blast. It’s almost as if the choice between going in quietly and just kicking in the front door is among the hardest ones to make in the game.

The augments work very well as another facet of the game’s story and gameplay. They can give you mobility, combat specialities, crowd control tools, or the ability to move unseen through even the most secure facilities. You could choose to specialize, or perhaps spread out their utility to let you navigate more complex situations in the field.

Prague and its districts serve as interesting locations to explore, with the open-world sections feeling just about large enough for them not to become repetitive. It’s yet another part of a game that fits very well with the others to make it a cohesive whole that comes together to present an experience that’s both unique and entertaining.

But, you may argue, there are a ton of other games that are well put together and present an experience that’s perhaps almost as good as the one in Mankind Divided. So what sets it apart?

You could think of Mankind Divided as a title whose ambition inspired others to follow in its footsteps. Where Winds Meet is a title that immediately comes to mind, considering how Everstone has attempted to include just about anything a player can think of as a part of its wuxia-based open world.

Yes, it does have solid stealth mechanics. Its combat is quite exciting too, and the story isn’t too bad. However, it’s a different game altogether, with a completely different goal in mind. It’s built for longevity through constant additions, and not as an experience that can remain memorable despite being comparatively shorter.

For all their ambitious similarities, Where Winds Meet and Mankind Divided are very different experiences and, as such, are not really comparable. Outer Worlds 2 is another excellent, massive RPG with excellent combat, a lot of options to approach your goals in the open world, and a choice-based narrative.

However, its take on corporate greed doesn’t come close to the dark gravitas of a world in which human beings are split into factions based on how they have responded to augmentations. Once again, the two games might have similarities, but they take entirely different directions as far as the experiences they offer are concerned.

Are you beginning to see a pattern? There are a few current-gen titles that are perhaps as exciting and even fun to play in their own right. They are definitely great games, but they are not Mankind Divided. Despite the title being around nine years old at the time of writing, it continues to stand out as an example of ambition grounded in solid execution.

And that’s among its biggest strengths. There aren’t many games like it because it isn’t easy to strike a balance between the weight of its thematic inspirations and a story that justifies all the mayhem its gameplay brings to the table. It isn’t easy to craft an experience that plays as well as this one does. Mankind Divided aims for the sky and finds a well-deserved place among the clouds.

With many years of great games like it behind us, and many more to come, we hope that we get to see another title that makes us fall in love as much as this one has.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

“…no Deus Ex because the people in charge are psychopaths,” Toufexis wrote when asked if any of the projects he was working on were related to the seminal immersive sim franchise. He did, however, confirm that he is working with Bungie on Marathon. It’s worth noting that the Embracer Group owns the rights to Deus Ex, though Toufexis didn’t call them out by name.

The last development on the franchise came up in January 2024, when a rumour indicated that a new title was under development for two years before ultimately being cancelled. It was allegedly developed by Eidos Montreal, which had also made Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. It is also worth noting that whether the cancelled title was a sequel to Mankind Divided, a reboot or a remake is unknown.

April 2025 also saw some rumours surrounding the franchise pop up again, this time with Eidos Montreal “actively pitching” a new game in the franchise to “external partners and publishers.” These pitches apparently didn’t see much success, unfortunately, with the project noted as “too niche” and not worth the financial risk.

While Adam Jensen’s story has largely been abandoned after the 2016 release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the original Deus Ex is slated to make a comeback in the form of a remastered release by Aspyr Media. Originally planned for release in February, Deus Ex Remastered has since been delayed, with Aspyr noting that the decision was to “better meet fan expectations and deliver the best possible experience for players.”

Deus Ex is a series of cyberpunk immersive sims that have players take on the control of JC Denton in the 2000 original, Alex Denton in 2003’s Deus Ex: Invisible War, and Adam Jensen in 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution and 2016’s Mankind Divided. The titles depict a world decades in a future ravaged by war, disease and income disparity, where body and mind augmentations have become commonplace enough that you can see people from all walks of life using them.

The main stories often involve the protagonist taking on what starts as a relatively simple mission, but then quickly evolves into something much larger, with several layers of conspiracies involved in just about every aspect. The original Deus Ex was widely praised for the level of freedom it allowed players in how they could tackle missions, while both Human Revolution and Mankind Divided saw acclaim thanks to their efforts at world-building as well as their stories and characters.

Allegedly in the works since 2020 and codenamed “Marathon” at one point, the project is now seemingly in development at Eidos Montreal (which recently saw several layoffs). It’s reportedly described as “Shadow of the Tomb Raider with Xenomorphs,” with three core characters – Aubrey, an engineer who uses grappling hooks and magnetic boots; Ryuzo, a potential antagonist; and Ripley 8 (with some hope that Sigourney Weaver reprises the character).

Its budget is reportedly less than $75 million, up from $30 million, with a release targeting 2028 on “all major platforms.” It could very well slip past that since it’s still in “early development,” though sources told Straw that “the state of the game is in a good place at this point.”

The alleged plot involves exploring a “decaying space station” where players deal with Spec Ops soldiers and the aforementioned Xenomorphs. It’s a single-player survival horror with puzzles, managing resources, sneaking around, and carefully dispatching enemies (who will apparently “adapt and react to whatever tactics you use.”

Regarding the delay, the developer said it had “listened to what you had to say” and made the decision to “better meet fan expectations and deliver the best possible experience for players.” It will offer more updates “when the time comes,” but for now, anyone who pre-ordered the title will be fully refunded.

Announced last September, Deus Ex Remastered touted upscaled textures, better controller support, a revamped UI, dynamic shadows, a new lighting system, and more. It received a mixed response from fans who criticized the lighting for ruining the atmosphere and the character models for looking vastly different from the originals.

Of course, Aspyr is no stranger to controversial remasters – see Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection – but it’s delivered some standout efforts as well, like Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 and 2 Remastered. How it plans to improve Deus Ex Remastered remains to be seen, so stay tuned for more updates.

Well, it seems all doubts have been erased as a trailer for the title had leaked. And lest you think this is AI-generated, Amazon Content Services LLC filed a copyright claim to take it down (though a mirror is available on Reddit). The next game in the series is published by Amazon, which noted in 2022 that it would be the most “expansive” entry yet.

Recent rumors suggest that the team behind Shadow of the Tomb Raider at Eidos Montreal is also working on the project and that it’s an open-world action-adventure. With the next Tomb Raider’s reveal coming up at The Game Awards today at 4:30 PM PST, we won’t have to wait long to find out, so stay tuned for more details.

He also went on to note that the studio uses the same internal naming system – the letter P followed by a number – for all projects it works on, regardless of whether it’s their own games or if the studio is supporting another developer for a game. This means that games that Eidos Montreal supported the development of, which include Fable, Grounded 2 and OD, all have similar code names of P followed by a number.

The studio is reportedly on P22 right now, but that doesn’t mean it has cancelled 10 internal projects. Rather, Henderson noted that the cancellations numbered around “half a dozen”. These cancelled projects include a Deus Ex game and a reboot of Legacy of Kain. He also noted that the recent revelations about cancelled projects are from a couple of years ago.

Henderson spoke about this recently, discussing the number of projects in the works at Eidos Montreal, as well as the fact that it is currently winding down development on a major project. This project, he noted, is going to be an open-world third-person action adventure game, with the team behind it being the same one that previously worked on Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

He went on to note that the recent lay-offs were specifically related to P11. “So you know, like conceptualisation, and all of the systems and all that kind of stuff has been complete, and they’re gearing up for beta, and that game is scheduled to release next year,” he explained.

As for what other projects might have been in the works at Eidos Montreal over the last few years, he also spoke about a game based on The Lord of the Rings which was seemingly going to be an attempt at cashing in on the IP since the Embracer Group has the rights to develop games based on it.

“So it seems like they’re just trying to cash in on that particular IP,” he said. “I don’t blame them or whatever, but it was related to that project. It didn’t really go far in development. It was a Lord of the Rings card game with a Telltale spin, like a story spin on it is how it was described to me. The cancellations were related to that particular project.”

Rumours had also recently indicated that Eidos Montreal was at one point working on a reboot of classic story-centric action adventure title Legacy of Kain. While there were no specifics, the CV of a recently laid-off employee listed work on a “dark fantasy ARPG” that would have served as a revival of an established IP revolving around vampires.

The last major title in the franchise was Shadow of the Tomb Raider, developed by Eidos Montreal. Though very little is official about this new entry, Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson alleged that the same development team has been working on a “big” open-world third-person action-adventure title since 2019 – one year after Shadow’s release.

Whether this is the next game in the series or not remains to be seen, but the sequel was allegedly “well into full-scale development” as of January 2023. At this point, a reveal seems well overdue.

Alongside Lara Croft’s future, The Game Awards will feature announcements like The Ascent developer Neon Giant’s new project, Resident Evil Requiem, Phantom Blade Zero, Exodus and whatever that statue ends up being.