Deus Ex 3 (2004-2005 Ion Storm project)


 * This article is about the cancelled game developed by Jordan Thomas at Ion Storm. For other uses of the term "Deus Ex 3," see Deus Ex: Insurrection and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Deus Ex 3 was a cancelled third main title of the Deus Ex series developed at Ion Storm from 2004 to 2005 by Jordan Thomas. The project was one of two attempts by Ion Storm to develop a successor to Deus Ex: Invisible War, the other attempt being the concurrently developed Deus Ex: Insurrection. The project was cancelled when Eidos Interactive closed down Ion Storm in February 2005.

Development history
Development of Deus Ex 3 began when Deus Ex: Insurrection was still in development. Deus Ex 3 was intended to be a parallel pitch by a competing team. Unlike Insurrection, Deus Ex 3 was developed on the Crystal Dynamics engine due to a binding contract with Eidos. When the Insurrection project ended in late 2004 following the departure of Warren Spector from Ion Storm, Jordan Thomas picked up the reins of the remnants of the studio to work on Deus Ex 3.

Development of Deus Ex 3 ended when Eidos closed Ion Storm in February 2005 due to the departure of key personnel and the studio's financial troubles. Two years later, in 2007, Eidos Montréal announced its own project, also initially known as "Deus Ex 3," which eventually became Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Story
Deus Ex 3 was planned to be a prequel to the original Deus Ex. The protagonist would have been a biotech firm's failed experiment. Cast-off by his creators and starting on a literal scrapheap, he has no choice but to become a mercenary. The story was planned to have a theme of revenge against the company that created the protagonist. Similar to the story concept for Deus Ex: Insurrection, the protagonist would have been the father of Paul and JC Denton.