Believe it or not, Deus Ex has not received a mainline entry for the series in almost five years. With the last game being Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the series has not looked for a new installment in nearly half a decade. That is primarily to blame for the underwhelming performance of the game when it shipped back in 2017 in contrast to 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Regardless, there is surely to be more Deus Ex to come eventually says publisher Square Enix. In a statement from firm CEO Yosuke Matsuda, he explains that the hiatus does not insist the end of the franchise. “We have never said anything about discontinuing that title but for some reason that’s the rumor out on the market.” He adds, “We are already internally discussing and exploring what we want do with the next installment of it.”
In a recent GDC livestream held earlier in March, and transcribed by Kotaku, Deus Ex director Warren Spector shares that the conspiracy theories and other subliminal stories conjured for the series would not lament well in today’s society.
I’m constantly amazed at how accurate our view of the world ended up being. Frankly it freaks me out a bit. Interestingly, I’m not sure I’d make Deus Ex today. The conspiracy theories we wrote about are now part of the real world. I don’t want to support that.
Spector goes on to remark on the recent Denver Airport conspiracy theories that occurred recently as the stories conjunct with Deus Ex. “The funny thing about the Denver conspiracy theory—[it was] too silly to include in the game [but] was cited in a New York Times article recently as something people actually believe.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Spector also went on to acknowledge the recent entries of Deus Ex titles. While not involved in the development, he does discuss his time playing the releases – namely Human Revolution. “I ended the games (especially Human Revolution) feeling like I’d had a DX experience. There were things that make me scream at the screen, but overall I thought the games work at a high level.”
Most interesting, however, is Spector’s desire to return back to the series. But due to the contractual ownership of the series now, he would not be able to enter development at any level unfortunately.
I’d actually love to make a new Deus Ex game but the property is now the property of Square Enix so that ain’t gonna happen. Spiritual successors to Deus Ex are basically all I’m interested in making.
Similarly, we saw a familiar story spun by Rockstar Games previously. When speaking to GQ back in 2018, Dan Houser explained that a new Grand Theft Auto would certainly not go well with the slowing expanding political climate that swelled in the late 2010s. You can read the full report by heading here.
What are your thoughts on Spector’s statement?
Source: GDC
