''Deep Down'' (

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

) is an unreleased

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...

developed and published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

. It was announced for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

in 2013, but entered

development hell Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic ...

and, despite being near completion, was not released. It is regarded as

vaporware In the computer industry, vaporware (or vapourware) is a product, typically computer Computer hardware, hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is late, never actually manufactured, or officially canceled. Use of the w ...

, although not officially cancelled. A

science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

game with

cooperative multiplayer A cooperative video game, often abbreviated as co-op, is a video game that allows players to work together as teammates, usually against one or more non-player character opponents ( PvE). Co-op games can be played locally using one or multiple in ...

elements, it takes place in far-future

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and players are teleported back in time by touching magical artifacts.

Gameplay

''Deep Down'' is a single-player or (up to four player) co-op multiplayer

dungeon crawl A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find. Video g ...

. Gameplay has been described as similar to Capcom's own ''

Dragon's Dogma is a 2012 action role-playing game developed and published by Capcom. First released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, an enhanced version subtitled ''Dark Arisen'' was later released for the same consoles in 2013, with ports being released for Wi ...

''. The historical sections of the game take place in a medieval/fantasy setting in procedurally generated dungeons, with the player equipped with suits of armor, swords, pikes, shields etc. Creatures encountered are from the fantasy trope, including ogres, shapeshifters similar to mimics (D&D), and dragons.

Plot

The player perspective for ''Deep Down'' begins in New York City in the year 2094. The story focuses on a member of a group known as the "Ravens" who has the ability to recover historical memories by touching ancient objects. This 'Raven' is brought into contact with excavated objects from a mysterious civilization in Bohemia (Czech Republic) dating from the 15th century and are asked to use their abilities to explore the city and discover its secrets.

Development

At the PlayStation Meeting on February 20, 2013 where Sony debuted the

, Capcom's Yoshinori Ono, best known for his work on the ''

Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

'' series, revealed ''Deep Down'' alongside their new "Panta Rhei" game engine, designed specifically for the PlayStation 4. ''Deep Down'' was the

, and Panta Rhei was announced to replace

MT Framework MT Framework is a game engine created by Capcom. "MT" stands for "Multi-Thread", "Meta Tools" and "Multi-Target". While initially MT Framework was intended to power 2006's ''Dead Rising'' and '' Lost Planet: Extreme Condition'' only, Capcom late ...

as Capcom's game engine of choice. The reveal trailer showed an armored warrior battling a medieval fire-breathing dragon. They chose to make a new brand for freedom to explore next-gen video game console architecture, and so as to avoid limitations from consumer expectations. The game did not have a presence at the

E3 2013 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 (E3 2013) was the 19th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, with many press conferences taking place at nearby venues including the Microsoft Theate ...

. During Tokyo Game Show 2013, Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono announced that ''Deep Down'' was to be a free-to-play title; the initial expected release date was to be in 2014 after a

public beta The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

coincided with the Japanese release of the PS4. In early 2015, Kazunori Sugiura stated in an interview with ''4gamer'' that the vision for the game had expanded since its initial 2013 reveal, to better appeal in the long term to players, and so the development timescale had been extended. Capcom extended the

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for the game in June 2018 but let it lapse in 2020. During an interview with

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

in November 2019 (primarily focused on ''

Street Fighter V ''Street Fighter V'' is a 2016 fighting game developed by Capcom, Dimps and Taito and published by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Windows. The major follow-up to ''Street Fighter IV'' (2008) as part of Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' ...

''), Ono responded to a mention of ''Deep Down'', saying that despite its long absence, the game " asnot been completely given up on". With Ono's departure from Capcom in 2020, the release status of ''Deep Down'' is publicly unknown. In September 2021, former chairman of

SIE Worldwide Studios PlayStation Studios (formerly SCE Worldwide Studios and SIE Worldwide Studios) is a division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was established as SCE Worl ...

Shawn Layden Shawn Layden (born June 25, 1961) is an American businessman. Previously, he served as Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America (SIEA), and executive vice president and COO of Sony Network E ...

stated that he had "no idea" what happened to ''Deep Down'' but says that other team members of Yoshinori Ono might pick up the game further to develop.

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Video games Action role-playing video games Capcom games Cooperative video games Dark fantasy role-playing video games Free-to-play video games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 4-only games Science fantasy role-playing video games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in New York City Video games set in the 2090s Vaporware video games Video games about time travel