Dead Space franchise is reportedly dead (again) — and I'm devastated
They say it’s “better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all.” But as a huge fan of Dead Space, those words are providing scant comfort right now.
After being dormant for a decade, the sci-fi horror series made a triumphant return last year via the immaculate Dead Space Remake. But rather than marking a new start for the franchise, reports suggest it’s more a case of “that’s all folks” as publisher EA has reportedly decided to put the series back into cryosleep. And I’m utterly devastated.
This unwelcome news first surfaced when industry insider Jeff Grubb claimed that EA Motive, the studio that brought us the Dead Space Remake, had been working on a remake of the fan-favorite Dead Space 2, but that the team was “no longer working on [Dead Space 2 Remake]."
Grubb cited “lackluster sales” of the Dead Space Remake as the reason the project was shelved, with Motive instead focusing on its previously-announced Iron Man game and creating a new team that will work on the Battlefield franchise.
However, the plot thickened when IGN received comment from EA stating there's "no validity to this story.” This denial gave Dead Space fans (myself included) a faint glimmer of hope, but Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier appeared soon after, like a mutated Necromorph jumping out of a dark vent, to deliver the news no Dead Space fan wanted to hear.
Schreier corroborated the legitimacy of EA’s statement but noted that while Motive had spent time conceiving ideas for a new entry in the series, and also considered a Dead Space 2 Remake, the plans “fizzled before they could get very far." He also claimed that Dead Space Remake missing internal sales targets was part of the reason EA did not ultimately greenlight a further game set in the science fiction universe. In conclusion, Schreier said, “Dead Space is on ice once again.”
This is why we can’t have nice things
In my Dead Space Remake review, I called the game a “stunning reimaging of a classic that retains what made its progenitor so special while also improving various aspects that haven’t aged well” — labeling it a “long overdue return for the beloved survival horror franchise.” Those are words I stand by, and I had desperately hoped the remake would be a start of a new golden era for the series.
However, it appears that some people just don’t appreciate a good game because hearing that the reason we won’t get a Dead Space 2 Remake or even a brand-new Dead Space game (for now at least), is due to low sales of such a stunning remake is particularly disappointing. If you didn't buy the game last year, shame on you!
These low sales could be linked to the Resident Evil 4 Remake which launched just a couple of months after Dead Space in March 2023 and sucked up a lot of oxygen in the room. Earlier this year, it was reported Resident Evil 4 Remake has sold more than 6.5m copies in less than 12 months, so it seems pretty clear that survival-horror fans chose Leon S. Kennedy over Issac Clarke.
At the very least, I’m thankful that we did get such an excellent remake of the first Dead Space game. But after enduring a decade-long wait for one of my favorite franchises to return, bunkering down for another drought, one that could be permanent, is difficult to swallow. Sleep well Dead Space, you were too good for this cruel world.
