'Deep Down' shows signs of life again as Capcom renews trademark

By Gabe Gurwin February 16, 2017

Way back in early 2013, Japanese publisher Capcom revealed Deep Down, a PlayStation 4-exclusive action role-playing game that draws influence from classic dungeon crawlers as well as From Software’s Dark Souls series. The game has remained essentially missing in action since then, but it appears that the project is still in development, as Capcom renewed a trademark on the name.

Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 9, Capcom chose to renew its trademark on the name “Deep Down,” and it is listed as “computer game software” on the office’s website.

This exact same process played out in 2016, with Capcom filing last February to renew the trademark on Deep Down without actually offering any more concrete information on the game.

The game has reportedly undergone some pretty radical changes since it was originally announced, with producer Yoshinori Ono saying that the team was “thinking about showing something that looks completely different from what [was] previously shown, although it might be a while from now.”

What doesn’t appear to be changing, however, is Deep Down’‘s commitment to an online and free-to-play business model.

“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,” Ono said in 2015.

Free-to-play Dark Souls-like games aren’t unheard of, however. Let it Die, the latest game from Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture, used the model to great success recently, though other games in the genre such as Nioh and Lords of the Fallen have opted for more traditional, full-priced releases instead.

What remains a mystery with Deep Down is its relation to Capcom’s previous fantasy role-playing game Dragon’s Dogma. Aside from the alliterative names, the two seem to share thematic elements that suggest they could take place in the same universe.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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