Eidos has announced the long-awaited third entry in the Deus Ex franchise, the sci-fi RPG shooter series originally handled by Ion Storm. The game is being developed at Eidos' recently formed Montreal studio for unspecified consoles, though PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 editions are likely.

The game is currently at an extremely early stage. General studio manager Stephane D'Astous told Gamasutra that the team just received approval for the title's proof of concept. The team will be allotted up to two years for development, suggesting the game is targeted for a holiday 2009 release.

"[Deus Ex] was very highly rated at its release in 2000, and we have this great huge mandate to do the third one, and everybody is very excited," noted D'Astous. The existence of the title was suggested in an Eidos interview earlier this year.

Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, who was also a producer on Looking Glass' original System Shock, is not likely to be involved with the project. Spector's company, Junction Point Studios, was recently acquired by Disney, with the creator noting that his next game was, "the only project that could've tempted me to leave the world of independent development."