Eidos Montreal undergoes layoffs following Deus Ex cancellation

Yesterday we received news that Embracer Group had cancelled a new Deus Ex game at Eidos Montreal. Now, that news seems to be confirmed, alongside confirmation that Eidos is also going to suffer a round of layoffs.

While this Deus Ex game was still in pre-production and unannounced, it has come to light that the project had been in development for around two years and was due to go into full production in 2024. However, it is also worth noting that Elias Toufexis, the voice actor for Adam Jensen, has confirmed that he had not yet been contacted about the project, speculating that perhaps Jensen would not feature in this iteration.

If they had been working on a #DeusEx for two years, and they still hadn’t contacted me, there’s a good chance it wasn’t a Jensen story anyway.

I’m more pissed for all the people getting laid off. This industry is fucked with this stuff.

— ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ ? (@EliasToufexis) January 29, 2024

Adam Jensen became the face of the Deus Ex franchise with the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Jensen's story continues in the sequel, Mankind Divided, but unfortunately due to various constraints, a good chunk of story planned for Mankind Divided did not make it into the final product, leaving fans waiting for a potential third game to wrap up a trilogy.

In a statement, Eidos has now confirmed that it is also undergoing layoffs, with around 97 people spread across multiple teams set to be ousted from their job, continuing a long line of games industry layoffs across various studios and publishers over the past year.

At this point, the future of the Deus Ex franchise is uncertain. Embracer Group acquired Eidos Montreal along with the Deus Ex IP back in 2022, alongside Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider IP. There is already a new Tomb Raider game in the works, but it is unclear what Eidos will move on to next.

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KitGuru Says: As a huge Deus Ex fan, this news has been nothing short of disappointing. Still, if Eidos hasn't been working on a follow-up to Mankind Divided, perhaps now they can regroup and give it some consideration, as there is clear fan demand for a return to Jensen's story. 

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