Could the Dead Space series be in trouble? A recent rumor suggests that EA may have put the franchise on hold, possibly due to less than stellar sales numbers.
A source told VideoGamer.com that lower than expected sales on Dead Space 3, which was released last month Feb. 5, has caused Electronic Arts to rethink a fourth game. According to the source. Dead Space 4 was already in pre-production at Visceral Games and Visceral Montreal, the latter of which was closed completely late last month in an EA restructuring move.
The anonymous source also pointed towards the rocky development of Dead Space 3 as evidence of EA's decreasing confidence in the brand. The game reportedly had its budget cut multiple times, and was almost cancelled entirely. In addition, the switch from weapon specific ammo to generic ammo, a series first, was done in an effort to raise additional revenue from in-game microtransactions. Lastly, EA flat out told Visceral to make the game less about horror, and more of an action experience, similar to EA's better selling franchise Mass Effect.
EA initially responded to this report by saying that it does not comment on rumour or speculation. However, they later reached out to GameSpot, telling them that the VideoGamer report is "patently false."
"While we have not released sales data for Dead Space 3, we are proud of the game and it continues to be an important IP to EA," the company added.
At this point, it's hard to say what the actual situation is. Even if EA is interested in pursuing more Dead Space, that could still mean that Dead Space 4 is on hold until they can think of a better approach.
Until then however, Dead Space 3 will receive a new piece of DLC, Awakening, in March.