Deus Ex Voice Star Blames ‘Psychopath’ Owners for Killing Sequel

The Voice Behind JC Denton Breaks Silence

LOS ANGELES—For the first time in years, Jay Anthony Franke, the gravel-toned actor who brought cyber-augmented agent JC Denton to life, has stepped back into the spotlight. But he isn’t here to tease a comeback. He’s here to bury hope.

In a raw, unfiltered Twitch stream last night, Franke told thousands of viewers why the next Deus Ex game—long-rumored to be in pre-production at Eidos-Montréal—was quietly shelved. His verdict was as blunt as a plasma rifle to the chest.

“The people who own the IP are psychopaths. They don’t care about art, they care about spreadsheets. Until that changes, the franchise is dead.”

Within minutes, the clip rocketed across Reddit, ResetEra, and Twitter, reigniting a fanbase that has waited eight years for even a whisper of a sequel.

Inside the Fall of a Sci-Fi Legend

Once hailed as the gold standard for immersive sims, Deus Ex has spent the last half-decade in corporate limbo. Square Enix sold the Western studios—and the Deus Ex rights—to the Embracer Group in 2022. Since then, Embracer has shuttered two internal studios and canceled over a dozen unannounced projects, according to leaked internal documents.

Franke claims Embracer’s “profit-first” metrics doomed any pitch that didn’t promise Fortnite-scale returns. “We pitched a tight, single-player story,” he said. “They wanted live-service, NFTs, battle passes. That’s not Deus Ex.”

Community Backlash Builds

By Tuesday morning, #SaveDeusEx was trending worldwide. Modders have already begun planning a community remake of the original 2000 classic, while a Change.org petition demanding Embracer sell the IP surpassed 60,000 signatures in under 12 hours.

• Steam concurrent players for Deus Ex: Human Revolution spiked 312% overnight.
• YouTube retrospectives racked up millions of views.
• Second-hand PS2 copies of the original are selling for $120 on eBay.

What Happens Next?

Embracer declined to comment for this story. Meanwhile, industry analysts predict the backlash could mirror the 2020 fan campaign that pressured Disney to greenlight a new Deadpool film.

“IPs this beloved rarely stay buried,” said Joanne Park, senior games analyst at Kantan. “If Embracer won’t fund it, they’ll license it—or sell it outright. The market won’t let Deus Ex rot.”

For now, fans are left with Franke’s parting words echoing in their ears:

“Keep the faith. Augmented futures don’t die—they just go dark for a while.”