PS4's Deep Down Not Canceled, But Changes Afoot

Capcom has kept quiet about its PlayStation 4 free-to-play game Deep Down for a long time now, leading some to believe the project has been canceled. That's not true, producer Yoshinori Ono says in a interview, while also acknowledging that the game has undergone major changes.

"It looks like Deep Down will take just a little longer," Ono told 4Gamer (via Siliconera). "It also looks like some people are starting to ask 'did the development come to a halt?' but it's nothing like that. We're thinking about showing something that looks completely different from what previously shown, although it might be a while from now."

Ono went on to say that Capcom's ideas for Deep Down are now "much larger" than they were when the developer originally announced the game at Gamescom 2013. "The ideas we had before might not have been good enough," he said.

The producer stressed that Deep Down will remain an online-focused game. Building out a suite of online features and functionality that keeps players hooked will be paramount to the game's success, Ono said, adding that doing this takes time.

"When it comes to the service of online games, it's a long-term challenge, so we must make sure to do the necessary parts correctly at the launch of the service, otherwise it'd be a shame to have an amusing game and not have any players stick around," he said.

"When looking back at the previous ideas we had for Deep Down, we felt concerns about it not being able to capture an audience as we would've liked, so it was decided to give it more time so that we can further enhance it."

Powered by Capcom's new Panta Rhei engine, Deep Down features dungeons that exist in a shared world, similar to that of Demon's Souls or Dark Souls. No release date for the game has been announced.

Regarding the game's free-to-play business model, and the microtransactions that will be available, Ono previously said the game will offer a "large variety of content at reasonable prices."