Spector originally pitched the project under the working title Troubleshooter at his former studio, Origin Systems. He wanted to create something truly new, saying he was tired of space marines, aliens, and wizards in hats.

The main character of Troubleshooter was meant to be Jake Shooter, a super-cop called in by secret agencies for high-risk missions.

“Deus Ex was part shooter, part stealth game, part RPG. I mean, how do you sell that? The argument I got from the Thief folks was that if you give players a gun, they won’t sneak. I was also asked, ‘Why don’t you just make a shooter?’ I learned the power of the word ‘no’ when pitching Deus Ex, let me tell you,” said Spector.