The Swedish publisher Embracer Group AB is canceling an as-of-yet-unannounced new title in the long-running sci-fi series Deus Ex after it was reportedly in development for over two years. In addition, they are laying off several employees at Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal as part of a cost-cutting initiative.
This is part of ongoing cuts across the industry that began last year, ending with over 10,000 jobs lost before the start of 2024. As of this year, in only the first month, we have seen over 5000 positions last, including Microsoft’s 1,900 lay-offs, most from their recently acquired Blizzard.
Eidos Montreal will instead begin work on an original IP. Although nothing is officially known about this Deus Ex project, several staff spoke anonymously to Bloomberg, saying that it was expected to enter full production later this year.
In a post on X, Eidos Montreal stated that they needed to let 97 people go due to “the global economic context, the challenges of our industry, and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer.” These widespread lay-offs at Embracer follow a massive expansion of the company during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Their downsizing since then has included widespread lay-offs across 2023 and now, the closure of several studios such as Saints Row developer Volition, and attempted sales of studios such as Borderlands developer Gearbox.
Eidos Montreal was previously owned by Publisher and Developer Square Enix where it developed two new titles in a rebooted Deus Ex series, which were well-received beyond some choice decisions with microtransactions. Square Enix sold the studio, along with technical powerhouse and Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, to Embracer Group shortly after the release of their Guardians of The Galaxy game. Although the title was well received, even winning best narrative at the VGA’s, Square Enix’s notoriously high standards saw the game labeled as an underperformance.
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