Development hell is nothing new in the video game industry, with multiple games each generation either failing to release after many years, or being a disappointment when they finally do. Deep Down is one such game, and it is still stuck in development limbo seven years after the first reveal. However, a recent trademark renewal seemingly implies that there’s still some life left in the project.

Deep Down was announced for PS4 during the 2013 PlayStation Meeting, where the console itself had also just been unveiled. The game was set to showcase what Capcom’s Panta Rhei engine could do, though very little information has been shared since the initial reveal. As for Panta Rhei, the engine has never resurfaced, Capcom sticking with their tried and tested MT Framework engine instead. During an interview with Eurogamer, producer Yoshinori Ono stated that, while “the original team is clearly no longer together at this point,” the project had “not been completely given up on.”

This certainly still seems to be the case, as Capcom renewed the trademark for Deep Down on June 19th. The filing unsurprisingly gives no new information on the game, and Capcom hasn’t announced anything to coincide with the renewal. In fact, the trademark has already been renewed multiple times before now, so there’s a chance that this silence will continue on for a few more years.

At the very least, this should put to rest rumours about the game’s demise. VGC had reported back in April that Deep Down “was shelved despite being in a ‘near-complete state’”. Capcom may have planned to cancel the project at some point in development, though for now it lives on.

So, what will happen to Deep Down at this point? Through small titbits of information over the years, the title was revealed as being free-to-play. Games like Fortnite and Apex Legends have proven that the F2P model is still successful, though the dungeon crawling gameplay of Deep Down is very different from the current battle royale trend. With the PS5 releasing later this year, Capcom may decide to rework the game for the next generation console instead.

Source: AltChar