I am sure you've heard the news by now, Embracer Group, who have purchased Eidos, including their subsidiaries, Crystal Dynamics and various game IPs. One of them including Deus Ex. Embracer was considered at the time to be more lenient than Square Enix.
Unfortunately, due to the current economic climate and cost-cutting measures, Eidos Montreal faced major lay-offs and the new Deus Ex game that was in development for 2 years now, has been cancelled as a result. They're undergoing a restructure, which might and not be for their best intentions and only for this new wave of corporate exploitation that's been surfacing lately.
All I can say, I am tired, sad, disappointed, and my melancholy has only gotten worse. I can't buy games either, and Palworld just came out. Understandable that the situation is different now. But what does it take to bring a beloved IP back, especially at Cyberpunk 2077's hype?
Deus Ex revival came at 2011, when the game had been in development right after Invisible Wars. This was a prequel series, starring everybody's favorite miserable augmented super-soldier, Adam Jensen. Despite not asking for it, we still want to get into another of his adventures.
It pushed the enveloped in the way it implemented philosophical, as well as anecdotal storytelling about mankind's constant need to evolve past the flesh, and the entities of power having control over them. You know, the stuff that the original 2000 game is very much known for. Except the first game will always be popular because of the memes and the biblical foretelling of today's world.
Before The Downfall
Right after the first Deus Ex and Invisible War, Warren Spector, and one of the two guys who found Arkane Studios changed their priorities, and since have left the IP despite attempts at making another sequel. It was in 2007 that the Montreal team for Eidos took over.
A new studio, and one of their first projects, Deus Ex 3 was years in concept before being revealed to be a prequel subbed Human Revolution in 2010 with a fancy CGI trailer made with Square Enix's help. It was released a year later to positive reception. And with little fanfare.
Much to Square Enix's chagrin, who expected big sales after buying Eidos. Similarly treated as many as other Eidos's IP, which becomes a recurring problem for the EU subsidiary. The company wanted more, and so decided to do something very stupid; release content in an episodic format. Which was not taken well. So we did get Mankind Divided with warm reception, except on one area.
And that area happens to be 'content'. It was short, too short and story just ending on a cliffhanger with little to digest compared to the first game. And a lackluster live service multiplayer tacked in, named Breach. You know what, this subject matter leaves a sour taste on me.
And again, this has all to do with Square Enix, they are so blinded by their greed and ambition, with tunnel vision for optics, it's no wonder no western studios wanted to ever work with them, like at all. There's even documentations about Eidos feeling mistreated under the merger.
Post-launch, they've released two story DLCs. And I'd say those compensate enough. For a 2016 game, visually it still looks good today. Though, they've had to do contract work at some point, and lending their talent to various projects. They made the third Tomb Raider, helped Crystal Dynamics with Marvel's Avenger, and the other next title, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
Development Hell
And as expected, Square Enix forced monetization on their first Marvel game, which performed poorly in terms of sales. Eidos Montreal's other game also felt short on expectations, but for us, it did really well. I played it myself and loved just how fun it was while being in the studio's spirit.
By early 2022, a rumor circulating that Square Enix was looking for a buyout by Sony. As well as some investment shenanigans into NFTs and blockchain tech. Right afterwards, Square Enix has sold Eidos and all the connected subsidiaries to Embracer Group.
The honest truth of it all, as much as I would love to support the studio, even if that involves purchasing whatever games they make, we were all wondering if they were working on the sequel to Mankind Divided. After hearing zilch in its whereabouts for years, rumors have once again circulating after the new merger that it might be coming back soon.
And like pulling daisies, we were guessing it was going to come or it wasn't. Multiple rumors coming out didn't help either. A lot of other things were clear though, the game was in development but mostly in concept and that majority of the development was in Montreal.
The original studio, but they were also working on an original game, and while also helping Microsoft with their upcoming Fable game. And now, circa 2024 January, massive layoffs in the industry, and Embracer pulling the plug with 97 layoffs from Montreal itself.
There was also a lot writing on the wall, after Mankind Divided, the lead artist left to work on his new game. Majority of the staff has worked on other games, as well as mobile releases too. The founder left in 2013, and with some of the staff from other studios moving in.
Eidos might have more freedom now, just don't expect that to contribute towards the new Deus Ex game. It was cancelled for a reason, and who knows, maybe if we raise enough noise, it'll come back again. I just don't know anymore. They've been exhausted going back and forth.
I once stated about having faith in Embracer, but unfortunately, they're like other companies, they cut off the talent to save money. It doesn't seem like they want to work on anything that would seemingly earn them less money. We might get a sequel to GOTG with Marvel's contract still sticking with them. Time will tell where Eidos will want to go next.
I still think they have a brilliant team to revive any dead IPs, that includes Legacy of Kain games. Which again, also hit the rumor mill. I am done hoping for Deus Ex to come back, so is the voice actor it seems. Man, what a way to start 2024, I am already feeling sick.
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