Deus Ex studio aims to return to the series under its new owner, rumors say

Modern Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal is reportedly aiming to return to the cyberpunk series immediately, and is hoping to outdo Cyberpunk 2077 in the process.

These rumors come from prolific insider Jeff Grubb, speaking on Giant Bomb's Game Mess Mornings podcast. Grubb notes that any internal discussions about Eidos Montreal's next project are very early, but he says that the studio is eager to return to Deus Ex.

"It's early. The rumbling I've heard is that the studio wants to immediately get into Deus Ex. They want to get right back into that. They want to challenge - they want to do what Cyberpunk 2077 couldn't, and stuff like that. That's the word going around. We'll see if that happens. It's so early, like what that will turn into. But there was no possibility for that conversation to begin under the current Square Enix, right?"

Square Enix was the previous owner of Eidos Montreal and the Deus Ex franchise, but sold both - alongside Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider IP - to the Embracer Group as part of a $300 million deal. Embracer named Deus Ex alongside Tomb Raider, Thief, and Legacy of Kain as one of the franchises it saw "great potential" in, hinting at sequels alongside "remakes, remasters, spinoffs, [and] transmedia projects."

Embracer has also said that there are "very sizeable AAA experiences in the pipeline" from Eidos Montreal and its other newly-acquired studios, including "beloved franchises that we will own as well as original IPs." A new Tomb Raider game was announced just prior to the Embracer sale.

Square Enix says it was worried that these western games would "cannibalize" sales of its Japanese portfolio.