Electronic Arts' Dead Space horror franchise is reportedly on ice, again
New reports indicate Motive Studio won’t be going ahead with another Dead Space following the 2023 remake
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What you need to know
If you were hoping for more Isaac Clarke and Necromorphs, take a seat.
A report fromBloombergindicates that Electronic Arts' Motive Studio is not continuing to work on theDead Spacefranchise. The report indicates that while ideas for a new game were explored, nothing was ever greenlit, with sources citing disappointing sales for the Dead Space remake, which released in January 2023.
Earlier in the day, Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubbstatedthat he’d heard Dead Space 2 remake was very early in development but that the project had been canceled. Shortly after, Electronic Arts gave a statement toIGN’s Kat Baileythat Grubb’s report was incorrect.
Motive Studio — which is also working on anIron Man game— is nowassisting on the Battlefield franchise. Weeks ago, Electronic Arts (EA)laid off hundreds of employees, canceling a Star Wars shooter from Respawn Entertainment and closing Ridgeline games, a studio founded explicitly to assist with single-player content in the Battlefield franchise.
Dead Space has been on ice before
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The Dead Space game franchise has been paused in the past. After the release of Dead Space 3 in 2013 and the game failing to meet lofty sales expectations, Electronic Arts took now-shuttered developer Visceral Games off of Dead Space, with the team instead working on the Battlefield series and developing Battlefield Hardline.
Following Hardline’s launch, Visceral Games was working on aStar Wars game codenamed Ragtagunder director Amy Hennig, but the game was canceled in 2017 and the studio was closed.
The Dead Space franchise wouldn’t return until almost a decade after Dead Space 3, with Motive Studio launching the Dead Space remake on Jan. 27, 2023 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. The Dead Space remake was the second best-selling game of January 2023 and thethird best-selling game of February 2023in the U.S.
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Analysis: A move that further constrains EA’s portfolio
Inmy review of the Dead Space remake, I wrote that “Motive Studios delivers a remake that isn’t just a faithful adaption of Dead Space for the modern age, but a love letter to the entire franchise. New narrative tweaks, the addition of a talking protagonist, and open exploration across the ship add up to a stellar horror experience.”
The Dead Space franchise provides some of thebest Xbox gamesever made, and I’m extremely disappointed that it looks like this series so near to my heart is going to be on ice again. I’ll never say never (after all, it came back once already) but I’m definitely not expecting things to change in the near future.
While Electronic Arts is clearly trying to only bank on the safest of safe hits, I’m worried about what’ll happen, as its portfolio appears increasingly thin with only a tiny of handful of new games in development. Fingers crossed forDragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter@SamuelTolbert.
