Now that Dead Space’s 2023 remake has come and gone, the series…will be put on hold again, actually.
Per a recent Bloomberg report, EA Motive has moved on to new projects, and the sci-fi horror series is on ice again. The studio reportedly wanted to create a wholly new entry after the remake, but none of those ideas got the green light to move forward.
Earlier this week, Giant Bomb claimed plans for a remake of Dead Space 2 were scrapped so Motive could help whip DICE’s Battlefield series into shape. EA swiftly debunked those rumors, telling IGN there was “no validity” to the story.
After summer 2023, the Dead Space team moved on to new projects, which at the moment also includes the previously announced Iron Man game.
Dead Space has always been failed by time
EA’s never been specific on Dead Space 2023’s performance, and as sources speaking to IGN were conflicted: at least one said it’d “done well,” while others indicated it missed projections.
The Dead Space series has had an odd life, with the (original) first game also missing EA’s sales target back then. EA reportedly thought Dead Space 3 could sell 2 million copies in 2013, but the horror audience at the time wasn’t as keen.
Horror games these days have done pretty well, just look at the Resident Evil remakes or Alan Wake II. But the Dead Space remake was likely hurt by releasing so close to Forspoken and Hi-Fi Rush.
While Hi-Fi’s sales are hard to determine since it launched on Game Pass, Forspoken’s underperformance was well-known. Soon after, Square Enix reabsorbed the game’s developer, Luminous Productions.
With an (apparent) renewed focus on its original properties, EA may let Dead Space out into the world again one day. The question is what the games landscape will be if that ever happens.