Play Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 7 playedThe games in release order, which is the recommended play order. DLC sits where it launched.
- 1 Deus Ex Start here for the full story. Game of the Year Edition is the version to buy.
- 2 Deus Ex: Invisible War Direct sequel set 20 years later. Divisive but short.
- 3 Deus Ex: Human Revolution Prequel starring Adam Jensen. Alternate entry point if 2000 feels too dated.
- 4 Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link Story DLC set during Human Revolution. Included in the Director's Cut.
- 5 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Direct sequel to Human Revolution. Includes the arcade mode Breach.
- 6 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - System Rift First story DLC. Reunites Jensen with Pritchard.
- 7 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - A Criminal Past Second story DLC. Prison prequel. Play after the main game.
About Deus Ex
Deus Ex is a cyberpunk action RPG series about conspiracies and human augmentation, from Ion Storm's 2000 original and its 2003 sequel Invisible War to Eidos-Montreal's prequels Human Revolution (2011) and Mankind Divided (2016). Newcomers should start with the 2000 original, or with Human Revolution if the old graphics put them off. Both entries explain their own plots.
This play order follows release order. Release order keeps the Jensen prequels in the sequence players first met them, and it places The Missing Link and the Mankind Divided story DLC where they launched. Chronology differs, since the prequels sit decades before the originals, but release order gives fewer spoilers.
Good to know
Human Revolution's The Missing Link (October 2011) slots mid-story and is included in the Director's Cut (2013). Mankind Divided includes the arcade mode Breach alongside the campaign; its story DLC is System Rift (September 23, 2016) and A Criminal Past (February 2017), the latter a prison prequel best played last. Deus Ex: The Fall (2013) and Deus Ex Go (2016) are mobile spinoffs and are skippable. No new Deus Ex is in development: Embracer cancelled an unannounced sequel in January 2024 with 97 layoffs, later pitches found no publisher, and Eidos-Montreal cut 124 jobs in March 2026 with another unannounced game cancelled.
