After Mass Layoffs, Embracer Cancels Development On Newest ‘Deus Ex’ Game

'Deus Ex' (Image: Eidos-Montréal)

On January 29, game developer Eidos-Montréal announced on X regarding the cancellation of the prospective new entry of the cult favorite Deus Ex franchise.

After being acquired by Embracer in 2022, many fans were worried, regarding the future of the studio with this recent announcement causing outrage on social media.

First announced in November 2022, the game had been in preproduction for almost two years before this cancellation. Embracer recently had an over $2 billion deal with Savvy Game Group, which has been recently found to be funded through Saudi Arabia’s’ sovereign public investment fund, fall through, leading to mass layoffs across their owned companies, which has brought turmoil between them and developers.

Eidos-Montréal had been a recent causality of these layoffs, with the studio having to cut 97 positions, with the company stating on their X post that it was the result of the “restructuring announced by Embracer” alongside the current state of the global economy.

In response, developers and gamers have expressed their anger at what has been seen as mismanagement on Embracer’s end, while supporting the studio who had to make the difficult decision to let people go.

This mass layoff has been one of many occurring recently within the games industry, reflecting overall on the current state of tech companies in the post-pandemic economy. With several uncertainties about the future of employment within the industry, this recent decision from Eidos-Montréal has increased fears of young developers entering the industry.

The canceled game would have been a sequel to the 2016 roleplaying game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which had won several awards at the Canadian Video Games Awards in 2016. The well-beloved game was the fifth installment of the Deus Ex series created by Warren Spector, which was first released by Eidos Interactive in 2000. There has been no news regarding the series’ future, with many fans online saying to not get any hopes up for an announcement within the next few years.