Deus Ex Devs Confirm New ‘AAAA’ Unreal Engine 5 Project

Eidos Montréal, the acclaimed studio behind Deus Ex, is reportedly working on a new ‘AAAA’ project.

Listen, I’m going to begin by saying what utter nonsense I think the notion of a AAAA game is.

As we’re all aware, a AAA game is a high-budget release developed by a major studio; some argue that a AAAA game is ultra ambitious, stretching beyond what a AAA offers.

You have to look at which previously released titles claim to be AAAA.

Skull & Bones was one of the first to claim that identity. Yes, the major flop from Ubisoft, with the studio arguing that Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Shadows also fall under that banner.

Can anyone tell me what those three titles do that no AAA does? No? No one? Exactly. AAAA is marketing talk, creating the appearance that something is more grandiose than it is.

Even still, it hasn’t put Eidos Montréal off using the phrase as the studio reportedly has a AAAA game in development that’s being made in Unreal Engine 5.

Skull & Bones, Credit / Ubisoft

Could Deus Ex Be Returning?

Eidos Montréal has delivered some incredible games over the years, including 2013’s Tomb Raider, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Thief, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and more.

Of course, I’m sure you’re itching to know whether this AAAA project marks the return of Deus Ex.

Unfortunately, probably not.

As reported by Insider Gaming, the existence of this game has been discovered via the LinkedIn profile of an employee.

Insider Gaming claim this tracks with what they’ve heard regarding a mysterious project known as P11.

P11 is reportedly heading into beta with the developer headcount having recently been reduced, but there’s very little info on what it could be.

The game is thought to have begun development in 2019 with hundreds of millions of dollars invested, and I’m imagining that’s where the AAAA claim is coming from.

Insider Gaming describes the game as “an open-world action-adventure game in third person”, so it doesn’t exactly sound like Deus Ex is making a return.

The series is typically first person, but that’s not to say that a big soft reboot isn’t in the works. That would be controversial though.

We know it won’t be a Tomb Raider game given that two new entries were recently announced by Amazon following the shift in rights ownership.

Honestly, I’m leaning towards this being a new IP and if it’s going into beta testing, it sounds like something with a multiplayer or live-service element. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that but I suppose I’ll reserve judgment at this early stage.