Deus Ex: Human Revolution Trademarked, in Development

Square Enix has filled two trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for two very interesting names. The company has asked both “Deus Ex: Human Revolution,” with a colon, and “Deus Ex Human Revolution,” without one, to be protected, which signals its intent to use them as possible names for the next game in the cult series, which has not seen a release since Invisible War back in 2003.

Eidos, the British publisher acquired by Square Enix last year, told fans back in 2008 that it was tasking its Montreal studio with creating Deus Ex 3, which was slated to be a prequel to the initial release.

The company offered a few details and screenshots but it has since not talked about the new game. Now, it seems like it has an actual name (it's probably better with the colon in place) and that sparks hope that Deux Ex: Human Revolution might be out in late 2010 or early 2011.

The trademark application is linked with “computer game software; video game software; computer games and video games downloadable from a remote computer location or recorded on CD-ROMs, compact discs, and game cartridges; downloadable electronic publications in the nature of newsletters and magazines featuring action adventure games,” so it's unlikely that it will be used for some sort of spinoff.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is set to be the same combination between action and role playing that made the first Deus Ex a hit, with decisions introduced to branch the gameplay paths the player can take and with the first person perspective still in place. The Human Revolution part of the name might suggest that it deals with some sort of backlash to the introduction of mechanical augmentation and that the player will be tasked with defusing the situation.