Today's announcement of the closure of Studio Onoma came as a real surprise—the name was only given to the studio formerly known as Square Enix Montreal a few weeks ago. But amidst that unfortunate news was a very faint, distant spot of light for Deus Ex fans: According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, work on a new game in the Deus Ex series has begun.
Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal, which Embracer acquired in August, is still intact, according to the report, and some employees of Onoma will be transferred there. A "Stranger Things-inspired" game that was reportedly in development at Eidos has been cancelled, but the studio is now working on a "recently rescoped" new property, is partnering with Xbox on games including the new Fable, and has a new Deus Ex game "very very early" in development.
The report comes a few months after Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb (via GamesRadar) said Eidos Montreal "wants to immediately get back into Deus Ex." That didn't seem likely to happen under Square Enix, which has kept the series on ice since Deus Ex: Mankind Divided in 2016 and ultimately offloaded it to Embracer Group, along with Tomb Raider and the studios that make them, for what struck me as a fire sale price. But Embracer has expressed interest in carrying on with the series, and it also seems somewhat more consequential since Eidos Montreal made a point of announcing in September that it "is now the owner of the games it developed," including Deus Ex and Thief, which had been owned by Square Enix prior to the Embracer acquisition.
One person who apparently does not have an inside scoop on the situation is actor Elias Toufexis, who voiced lead character Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Somewhat ironically, given what is undoubtedly the most famous line uttered by Jensen in the games, Toufexis would like fans to stop asking him about this.
"I’m glad they are (seemingly?) working on a new DeusEx," he tweeted. "Please stop asking me because I don’t know anything about it or if Adam Jensen is even going to be a part of it. I love the series and I hope to play Jensen again. I have zero info!"
I’m glad they are (seemingly?) working on a new #DeusEx. Please stop asking me because I don’t know anything about it or if Adam Jensen is even going to be a part of it. I love the series and I hope to play Jensen again. I have zero info! https://t.co/CRaoRjJkzgNovember 1, 2022
Toufexis clarified in a followup tweet that he doesn't dislike the attention that follows every new mention of Deus Ex or Adam Jensen, "I just wish I had some answers."
As a long-suffering Deus Ex fan myself, I wish he had answers too—as long as at least one of those answers is, "Yes, they are definitely making a new Deus Ex," that is. I've reached out to Eidos to ask if it's really happening, and will update if I receive a reply.
This was such a good teaser.
