Dead Space 4 dead? Update: Dead Space lives?

Rumors surfaced this morning that, not only will publisher EA not be moving forward with a planned fourth entry in the Dead Space series, but that the entire franchise is effectively dead in the water.

Update: Reports are coming out of Kotaku now that the series isn’t so dead after all. Dino Ignacio, a Dead Space development team member who was not laid off, commented that “The reports of our death were greatly exaggerated” on Twitter. In addition, a Visceral employee wrote on NeoGAF that the rumors were “completely false based on my knowledge.” (Based on your knowledge? Hmmm…)

Though, they’re not the most telling of quotes, it does seem (as of now anyway) that Dead Space is still alive as a brand. Maybe.

Source: Kotaku

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Lets face it, the just released Dead Space 3 wasn’t a runaway hit.

The switch to action/horror over the series’ usual survival/horror focus alienated fans, many of whom didn’t even give it a chance. Even with some very positive critical praise and good word of mouth from players who had taken the plunge into DS3, it kind of went nowhere after launching at number one on many global charts. In some places, sales were down over 25% from Dead Space 2, which is kind of a big drop by anyone’s estimation.

So, instead of bringing the game back to its roots for part 4, EA is reportedly shelving the entire franchise – maybe indefinitely. GamesRadar is reporting today that the signs all fit the rumor that emerged from website VideoGamer and a source of theirs who spilled the necromorphic beans.

Although nothing has been issued officially from the mega-publisher, everything fits for cancellation to be the case. The rumored development team for Dead Space 4 (Visceral Games Montreal) was recently laid off in sweeping staffing cuts at EA, which definitely isn’t a good omen, and the President of EA himself made some pretty damming comments about the series last Summer.

Last June, Frank Gibeau said that Dead Space 3 really needed to reach an audience of about five million to warrant further investment from the company. That’s a beyond lofty goal for a horror franchise and maybe why EA allegedly asked Visceral to make the title ‘more like BioWare’s Mass Effect’. As lofty as it was though, it was apparently a goal that Mr. Gibeau was very serious about.

Source: GamesRadar