Highlights

  • Veteran voice actor Elias Toufexis labeled the current state of the video game industry as a "disaster zone."
  • The actor's remarks were offered in response to the news of mass layoffs at Eidos Montreal, which reportedly resulted in the cancelation of the next Deus Ex game.
  • While Toufexis wasn't certain whether he'd reprise his role of Adam Jensen in the canned project, he said he felt angered that so many of his friends at Eidos lost their jobs.

Starfield and Deus Ex voice actor Elias Toufexis has bemoaned the current state of the video game industry, labeling the sector as a "disaster zone" following the news of mass layoffs at Eidos Montreal. Announced in late January, the cutbacks at the Embracer Group-owned studio saw Eidos Montreal lay off 97 employees, or over 20% of its workforce.

The 2020 global pandemic has been both a blessing and a curse for the video game industry. While the widespread lockdowns propelled the sector to unprecedented heights in terms of profits, that economic boom turned out to be unsustainable, but not before many publishers greenlit a wide variety of projects that they later decided to axe once loans got more expensive and venture capital dried up while their own growth slowed down. One particularly high-profile consequence of that turn of events is Embracer Group's ongoing cost-cutting initiative which started in June 2023 after the Swedish holding company lost out on a $2 billion investment, consequently deciding to cancel multiple games and close some of the studios across its 12 operative groups.

sega layoff 2024-1
Related
Sega of America Is Laying Off Staff

Sega of America is set to lay off staff in the coming months, amid a continuing trend of mass job cuts for many developers in the gaming industry.

The layoffs at Eidos Montreal were the latest result of that effort, which is also said to have led to the cancelation of the new Deus Ex game that was reportedly in the works since 2022. Reflecting on this development, Elias Toufexis has recently described the video game industry as a "disaster zone right now." Taking to Twitter on February 8, the industry veteran seemingly confirmed that the next entry in the Deus Ex franchise was canceled. The Canada-born actor also revealed that another "massive game" that he was working on got canceled, while a third project he was involved in as both an actor and director was completely rebooted with a different team.

Adam Jensen Was Not Guaranteed to Return in the Canceled Deus Ex Game

Toufexis went on to explain that he is currently involved in another "two or three" projects, but cynically predicted all of them would be binned by week's end. While not much was known about the recently scrapped Eidos title, Toufexis had previously clarified he was far from certain the game would see him reprise his iconic Deus Ex role of Adam Jensen. On the contrary, he suspected the binned project would feature a different protagonist. That notwithstanding, the actor felt angered by the cancelation because it meant his "friends at Eidos got laid off," having said as much in a recent Reddit post.

Elias Toufexis Twitter profile pic next to Adam Jensen from Deus Ex Mankind Divided cover

A subsequent tweet saw Toufexis clarify that his "disaster zone" comments were merely venting, noting that he's still lucky enough to be able to keep busy. Be that as it may, he acknowledged that the video game industry is "in a weird place right now." How long that weirdness continues remains to be seen, but as things currently stand, Embracer's thousand-plus layoffs are still not over.

I am presently working on two or three other games but I'd expect them all to be canceled before the end of the week or something.

None of Toufexis's remaining projects have yet been announced as of February 2024. His latest acting credits date back to the 2023 Starfield and Star Trek: Resurgence, in which he voiced Sam Coe and Galvan/Hadri, respectively.