In fact, even series creator Glen Schofield was seemingly unable to convince EA to keep investing in the sci-fi horror series. Schofield – who left Striking Distance Studios last year in the aftermath of the critical and commercial failure of the developer’s debut title, The Callisto Protocol – revealed in an interview with YouTuber Dan Allen Gaming that he and fellow Dead Space veterans Bret Robbins and Christopher Stone pitched a Dead Space 4 to EA earlier this year, only for the company to pass on the idea.

“We tried, actually, you know, the three of us,” Schofield said. “Dead Space 4. We tried. They said no. I mean, we’re talking this year.”

“We didn’t go too deep,” he added. “They said, ‘we’re not interested right now, we appreciate it, blah blah blah’. We knew who to talk to, so we didn’t take it any further. We respected their opinion. They know their numbers and what they have to ship.”

Stone added, “Yeah, the industry’s in a weird place right now. People are really hesitant to take chances on things, so you know, take it with a grain of salt. Who knows, maybe one day. I think we’d all love to do it.”

“Yeah. We’ve got some ideas,” Schofield added.

When asked to reiterate if they’d wish to return for a hypothetical Dead Space 4 at some point, Schofield and Stone both confirmed they would. “I’d make a Dead Space 4,” Stone said.

“Yes,” Schofield agreed.

If or when we’ll see a new Dead Space game at some point in the future is anyone’s guess, but the demand for the sci-fi horror series has certainly not died down, even if EA was evidently dissatisfied with the way the 2023 remake sold. What that means for the franchise’s future remains to be seen, but for now, it’s safe to say we won’t be getting anything related to Dead Space anytime soon.

Though debut physical sales in the UK haven’t exactly been amazing, averaging less than half of The Callisto Protocol’s at launch, it still topped the charts. We’ll have to wait for more data and see if the higher price helped offset lower physical sales.

Thankfully, it seems that Motive is already interested in what’s next. Dead Space producer Phil Ducharme told GQ it hopes to discuss the franchise’s future with Electronic Arts. There’s interest in “exploring Dead Space more,” with Ducharme stating that there are “ideas, for sure.” But for now, the team is fixing technical issues and then going on vacation before sitting down with the publisher. With the remake garnering praise for both expanding on what made Dead Space great while retaining the core and being amazing in its own right, the future looks bright.

But where does the franchise, which was on ice after the failure of Dead Space 3, go from here? To discuss that, we need to look at how the remake ends and how this could factor into the future, if not a potential remake of Dead Space 2. Spoilers ahead, so be warned.

For those who played the original 2008 sci-fi survival horror, the canon ending is pretty similar but has some neat twists. In the remake, protagonist Isaac Clarke speaks to horticulturist Elizabeth Cross. She tells him of the Leviathan and how to weaken it before setting off to find her boyfriend, Jacob Temple. In the original game, the two never speak directly, and though Cross reunited with Temple, the two would be captured and eventually killed by antagonist Challus Mercer.

The remake does things slightly differently. Kendra Daniels, who arrived with Isaac as part of the Kellion’s crew, works for Earth Government and knows all about the Marker on Aegis VII. It was set up on the planet hundreds of years ago to serve as an experiment, and now the government wants it brought back to Earth. Isaac and Nicole take it to Aegis VII, which is on the verge of destruction.

They encounter Kendra, who attempts to take the Marker. She then reveals that Nicole, as in the original, is dead. However, it turns out that Isaac was imagining Cross as Nicole, while Cross had been seeing Isaac as Temple due to the Marker’s hallucinations. Cross is shot by Kendra, but before the latter can transport the Marker to Earth, she’s killed by the Necromorph Hive Mind. Isaac battles the monstrosity and defeats it before escaping the planet. Aegis VII is destroyed, taking the Marker with it as Isaac flies off to safety in space.

While stopping short from viewing Nicole’s final message again, Isaac looks to his right and sees her sitting next to him. She then quickly attacks as the screen cuts to black, just like in the original. As Dead Space 2 would reveal, this was a hallucination caused by Isaac’s exposure to the Marker.

New Game Plus becomes available in the remake, and players will discover new logs in the Ishimura, including a discussion between two characters about the ship’s decommissioning (before the Necromorph outbreak, of course). There’s talk about seeking new jobs, and the Sprawl on Titan Station comes up. This is the setting for Dead Space 2, and while it could simply be Motive inserting a clever secret to tie both games together, it’s a clever way to tease the sequel’s remake if it ever happens.

Once again, however, a remake of Dead Space 2 isn’t confirmed. Besides, that’s not the only new story-related content in the Dead Space remake. Throughout the story, the player discovers various Marker Fragments, some in plain sight and others are more carefully hidden. Collecting all 12 and entering New Game Plus lets you place them in Captain Mathius’s room in the Executive Quarters on the Crew Deck. Upon activating, the lights go out, and the pieces light up, humming with a strange energy.

When finishing a New Game Plus playthrough, players experience a different ending. Instead of Nicole suddenly being next to Isaac and attacking him, the two enjoy a pleasant conversation about seeing Ishimura in its prime. Nicole asks if they’re “going home”, and how there’s “so much work to do.” Isaac responds that they will soon, but he has to “build a little something first,” and it’s a surprise that he thinks Nicole will like. The ship’s interior is covered in Marker writings, indicating that Isaac has completely given himself over to it.

From a canon standpoint, this is an alternate ending and can’t directly connect to the sequel as we know it. Isaac’s dementia led to director Hans Tiedeman using the data in mind to recreate the Marker on the Sprawl. Memory blockers were used to prevent the data from permanently damaging Isaac’s mind and causing him to lose his sense of time. He’s still plagued with hallucinations, this time much more vivid, of Nicole as the Marker attempts to complete Convergence.

However, in this alternate ending, Isaac is lucid and at peace with Nicole. The implication of building something seems to indicate that he’ll recreate the Marker himself, and then he’ll go home, potentially to spread its influence on Earth. It would have dark consequences for humanity’s future and significantly alter the timeline.

It’s possible that the Marker Fragments and makeshift shrine in Mathius’s room were a failsafe created by the Aegis VII Marker. Should it fail to “go home,” it would distil the data into the mind of a single individual, who would then carry it forward.

Let’s say, for a moment, that Motive decides to completely upend the story of Dead Space 2 when remaking it. Isaac has to escape confinement on the Sprawl and destroy the recreated Marker created using data in his mind. Memory blockers prevent him from knowing how he got there or what he was doing till that point.

However, the big twist would be that Isaac himself worked with the Sprawl to recreate the Marker and that he’s directly responsible for the outbreak on the station.

This could lead to two outcomes. One could see him having second thoughts and trying to halt Convergence, battling his hallucinations of Nicole. The other sees him giving in and spreading the Necromorphs to Earth, perhaps the entire Solar System.

It would be an incredible set-up for a Dead Space 3 remake, which would be a far more drastic remake and completely undo the original’s events. It certainly seems more likely than, say, creating a spin-off based on the alternate ending that doesn’t connect to Dead Space 2 in any way.

Of course, Motive could also create other games in the Dead Space universe that don’t star Isaac. The potential is there. It could also simply greenlight Dead Space 4 and build on the universe in new ways, having it take place several years later with a new protagonist and setting. The potential is limitless unless Electronic Arts isn’t impressed with the remake’s sales and does nothing with the franchise for several years again.

Regardless, it’s nice to bask in the fact that Dead Space is back, even if Motive focuses only on Marvel’s Iron Man for who knows how long. Whether the alternate ending is just a fun little bit or a sign of things to come, Isaac Clarke lives on.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

With that in mind, what does the future hold for the series? Sure, the Dead Space remake is only just a few days old at this point, but it’s not surprising that long-suffering fans and freshly turned enthusiasts are already eager to find out where EA is going to take Dead Space from here. And assuming that the game is successful enough from a commercial point of view (which its critical reception suggests it has a very good chance of being), there’s a couple of directions that EA could take the series in.

Obviously, the company could always greenlight a remake for Dead Space 2. That seems like a very likely scenario for multiple reasons. Even a cursory glance at Dead Space and the context surrounding the recently-released remake makes it abundantly clear that EA has borrowed heavily from how Capcom has approached Resident Evil over the last few years, to the extent that it would be fair to assume that if not for Resident Evil 2’s critical and commercial success upon its launch in 2019, it’s highly likely that EA would never have greenlit a Dead Space remake. And if EA does see encouraging signs in the game’s critical and commercial performance, it wouldn’t be a leap to imagine that it would want to replicate that success with another similar project, much like Capcom has done with Resident Evil remakes.

It’s also undeniable that a Dead Space 2 remake would be a very safe project for EA and Motive Studio to take up- or at least as safe as a major AAA production can be in this day and age. Since its launch in 2011, the game has been widely regarded as one of the best survival horror games ever made (much like its predecessor), and unlike its sequel, it holds a special place in the hearts of series fans- which is to say there’s no shortage of people who would love to see Motive Studio building upon it and enhancing it as it has done with the original Dead Space. A faithful remake that builds upon an already incredible foundation is always going to have high chances of succeeding on all fronts, and EA is obviously going to be very aware of that fact- it has very recent evidence of that, after all.

But as exciting as it would be to see a Dead Space 2 remake, there’s surely going to be a sizeable contingent of series fans who would rather see a completely new instalment. It’s been a decade since we last got a new mainline Dead Space game, and given the way Dead Space 3 ended, it goes without saying that series fans have been desperate to see the story to move forward for quite some time. A new instalment with a new setting and a new story would indeed be something that would be very hard to say no to, and now that Motive Studio has the experience of developing a Dead Space game, perhaps the studio might feel it is better positioned to deliver something completely new in the franchise rather than going back to its greatest hits.

Regardless of which of the two EA decides to greenlight next, there will, of course, be some interesting questions that it will need to give some thought to. For instance, if a Dead Space 4 is something that it does want to move ahead with, how will it tackle the story? Dead Space 3 was not only not a massive seller, it’s also a decade old at this point (and will, of course, be even older by the time the next game comes out). With that in mind, would EA be more inclined to develop a sequel that’s more of a soft reboot? One that is set in the same continuity, perhaps, but doesn’t have too many overt links to the original trilogy- similar to, say, 2018’s God of War. Or would a completely new protagonist be a better choice?

On the other hand, if a Dead Space 2 remake is the next project for the series, will Motive Studio approach it the same way it approached Dead Space and deliver a largely faithful experiences that makes additive changes rather than drastic ones? Or, now that the studio has made itself at home with the franchise and got to better grips with it, will it be inclined to take more risks and do something that’s more similar to what Capcom has done with its recent Resident Evil remakes?

And if a Dead Space 2 remake does get made, will Dead Space 3 be next? Many might argue that out of the original trilogy, that’s probably the game that’s always been more in need of a remake than the other two. Perhaps Motive Studio could take its larger story beats and shelve everything else in an attempt to reimagine Dead Space 3 as a proper survival horror game? That’s surely something a lot of series fans would be more than a little interested in seeing- not least because it would also provide an excellent platform for a full-fledged sequel.

Regardless of what EA and Motive Studio decide to do, it does seem like the future is going to be bright for Dead Space. It’s still early days for the remake, of course, which means we don’t yet have a good sense of how it will perform from a commercial viewpoint, and whether that performance will be enough to warrant a sequel in EA’s eyes, but given the popularity of the survival horror genre and the incredibly positive reception that Dead Space has enjoyed, it seems safe to assume that it’s going to do rather well.

Interestingly enough, it looks like there are already signs of what the future might hold for Dead Space. A new easter egg discovered in the remake’s New Game Plus mode seems to be pointing to a Dead Space 2 remake being next up, while recently, the remake’s developers also said that they are interested in exploring the franchise further, and already have ideas for how to do that, with discussions planned within EA about the series’ future.

Of course, Motive is also busy with a single player action-adventure Iron Man game, so it remains to be seen whether it will be taking on any other projects in the immediate future. Hopefully, however, it won’t be too long before we get some idea of where Dead Space will be headed from this point forward.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

That’s according to Dead Space producer Phil Ducharme, who said in a recent interview with GQ that he – and others at Motive Studio – are interested in exploring the franchise further, and already have ideas for how to do that. As per Ducharme, discussions about the series’ future will be had within EA in the near future.

“For sure, it’s a hope that we have,” Ducharme said when asked about whether Motive Studio has plans to keep working on Dead Space. “There’s interest on my side and I think on Roman’s [Campos-Oriola, creative director] side in exploring Dead Space more. There are ideas, that’s for sure. We’re finishing this week, we’re going to be making sure that that launch goes well and that there are as few technical issues as possible. We’re gonna be heading out on vacation and then we’ll sit down and we’ll have those discussions within EA to say, ‘Well, what’s next?'”

Interestingly, there’s a chance that Motive Studio has already started to drop hints for what it plans to do with Dead Space going forward. A recently-discovered easter egg in the remake’s New Game Plus mode seems to hint at plans for a remake of Dead Space 2.

Dead Space is only a few days old, but it seems to have got off to a solid start where sales are concerned, seeing a sizeable playerbase on Steam at launch while also performing well in the platform’s weekly sales charts.

In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 10/10, saying, “Dead Space is one of the best survival horror games ever made, and one of the greatest remakes of all time. It takes a masterpiece of the genre and allows its biggest strengths to shine brighter than they ever have, while also improving upon it in meaningful ways with smart changes and additions. Motive Studio has delivered an instant classic and a true giant of the genre.” Read the full review through here.

Dead Space is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Dead Space 3 was the final game of EA and Visceral’s survival horror/action series, but it wasn’t so because of a lack of interest in Visceral’s part on following up on it. In fact, they had some pretty cool and crazy ideas for where they wanted the game to go. Speaking to Eurogamer, Ben Wanat, who was creative director of Dead Space (and who now works over at Crystal Dynamics), shared some of the early ideas Visceral had for where to take the popular franchise next.

It sounds like one of the ideas was to add several survival mechanics to the game- which would have made sense too, given the state of humanity at the end of Dead Space 3. “The notion was you were trying to survive day to day against infested ships, searching for a glimmer of life, scavenging supplies to keep your own little ship going, trying to find survivors,” Wanat explained.

They also wanted some non-linear gameplay in there- something that they had already experimented with in Dead Space 3 to an extent. “We would have finessed a lot of existing mechanics,” Wanat said. “The flotilla section in Dead Space 3 hinted at what non-linear gameplay could be, and I would have loved to go a lot deeper into that.”

And what about the story? The idea was for it to be an episodic thing, divided into chapters, trying to bridge that style of storytelling with the whole non-linear gameplay style that the developers were trying to go for.

“I figured you’d start in a section of space, maybe following a trail of ship carcasses to an orbital station you think might have the parts and fuel needed to get your ship Shock-capable,” Wanat said. “You’d start to form a picture of what happened in that region while fighting through scores of Necromorphs from ship to ship. And you’d learn a new, critical bit of plot info along with the means to Shock to a couple of nearby sectors.”

Wannat spoke about the future of the franchise as well, noting that Visceral knew how they wanted the game to end, and that there was an element of escalation involved- but also saying that he doesn’t want to actually give the planned ending away just yet, in case EA does plan on reviving the brand some day in the future.

“As much as everyone wanted to keep making Dead Space games, the cost of development was just too high compared to how much they sold. Nobody ever officially came out and said, ‘there will be no more Dead Space’. But for the first time in a while, it no longer appeared on any SKU plans.

“It would involve getting the development cost pushed way down. And I think you’d have to focus much more on a fantastic core experience: dread, horror, and great dismemberment combat – you’d also have to forego some of the ridiculously expensive one-off action moments.”

“I don’t want to give away the lore, but I will say that we spent a bit of time working out the origin of the Necromorphs and what purpose humans held in this dark universe. Would players find a way out of the Necromorph apocalypse? I’d say yes, but they might be sorry they did. Sometimes you’re better off with the devil you know…”

It’s a shame Visceral never got to continue telling the story they had stated- especially given how popular Dead Space was with fans. It is true, however, that sadly, the games never quite sold proportionately to their acclaim, and on one level, it is hard to fault the publisher for a decision that made complete financial sense. That said, I can only hope that, one day, maybe, Dead Space will be revived, and we will be able to see where the story was going to be headed.

Dead Space’s developer, Visceral Games, is now working on Battlefield Hardline, the cops and robbers themed Battlefield game coming out later this year. That fact, coupled with the dismal performance of Dead Space 3 (as well as the rapidly declining numbers the series has been pulling anyway) has led many to conclude that the series is probably now down and out, like so many other beloved EA properties. However, EA’s Patrick Soderlund reminds us we shouldn’t be so sure the series is dead.

“To the largest extent we can, we want to get the game teams to work on the things they want to work on themselves. There’s an incredible amount of enthusiasm over Hardline and the Star Wars game at Visceral,” he said in an interview with Polygon.

“Do I think that we will create a Dead Space game again? Yes, I think so. But when we do so, we have to think about what made the previous ones successful and how we go about envisioning Dead Space for a new generation. Now, I’m not announcing a Dead Space game. We’re not building one just to be very clear, but I’m saying is there an opportunity or possibility to do one in the future? Absolutely.”

I just hope this opportunity is more like the opportunity was to do another Mirror’s Edge, rather than the previously mentioned opportunities to do another Burnout, Road Rash, or Need for Speed Underground.

Visceral Games’ Star Wars Title

When it was announced that EA would be exclusively developing and publishing games based on the Star Wars license, the news also came about that internal studios DICE, Visceral Games and Bioware would be working on a title each. Each game would use Frostbite 3, and while we’ve seen DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront, we’re yet to find out what Visceral Games is working on. Maybe a next-generation Republic Commando? How about a resurrection of Star Wars 1313? Hopefully it’s not a sequel to The Force Unleashed – seriously, what the hell happened with the second game? – but at this point, we wouldn’t mind a psychological horror action title that explores the darker regions of the Star Wars universe. Speaking of horror…

Dead Space 4

Despite stories of EA being disappointed with the franchise and subsequently pulling the plug on the same, Dead Space is still very much alive. How long will it be before Isaac Clarke returns again to face the latest round of unimagined and repulsive horrors that the Markers inflict? For that matter, will there be a brand new protagonist this time around, exploring a new far-flung region with Necromorphs inhabiting? The ending to Dead Space 3’s Awakened DLC certainly indicated that there are enough space zombies to go around. Expect Dead Space to be revived for the next-generation, though when it will be revealed remains to be seen.

Battlefield: Bad Company 3

The Battlefield: Bad Company team has been on a long vacation since the release of the second game…or so EA and DICE would have us believe. It’s no secret that there’s a demand for the game to return, especially since the last two installments in the Battlefield franchise have been core titles. Now that DICE has had enough time to familiarize itself with next-gen consoles and Battlefield 4 is finally released, is it any stretch to guess that the next Battlefield game could very well be Bad Company 3, powered by Frostbite 3?

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

While it may seem surprising that PopCap Games first person/third person shooter tower defence hybrid would need the power of Frostbite 3 to realize its vision, we can’t say we mind having the engine powering Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. From tons of zombies on screen, a variety of plants attacking at once, huge bosses, airstrikes, the disco zombies and cartoonish albeit highly detailed environments, Garden Warfare looks like a blast. Interestingly, as far as next-gen consoles go, it will only be available on the Xbox One despite making an appearance on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 as well. How will Frostbite 3 benefit from the Xbox One’s power in this case? We’ll need to wait and find out.

Bioware’s Star Wars Title

If you had told any Knights of the Old Republic fan that Bioware might be working on a Star Wars-related title in the near future, the excitement would have been palpable. Granted, Bioware DID work on a KOTOR title which ended up being the MMORPG The Old Republic, which failed to click despite its large budget and scope. But it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a true follow-up in the series, continuing the legacy of Revan and unlocking more of the mystery behind the Sith. The thought of Bioware creating a next-generation Knights of the Old Republic using Frostbite 3? Now that’s something we can get behind. Even if it turned out to be something else – perhaps a brand new RPG franchise –we’d still be excited. The point is, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect 4 might be the cat’s pyjamas but Bioware Star Wars titles will always have the Force.

Which other games do you believe are in production and use the Frostbite 3 engine? Which games do you wish to see in the coming years from EA using the same? Let us know in the comments below.

An EA spokesperson has already stated that, “While we have not announced sales for Dead Space 3, we are proud of the game and the franchise remains an important IP to EA.

Meanwhile, several designers and leads across Visceral and EA have debunked the report. From Ul Lead at Dead Space developer Visceral Games, Dino Ignacio who responded very elegantly…

The reports of our death were greatly exaggerated. Please stand by.

— Dino Ignacio (@DinoIgnacio) March 5, 2013

To EA creative director Ian Milham (also ex-art director for Dead Space), who rubbished the report on Twitter:

@32nds Almost nothing in that article is true. But thanks for the nice words on DS!

— Ian Milham (@Monkey_Pants) March 5, 2013

And finally official word through Gamasutra – and you better believe their industry connections – stating the same:

Rumors about poor Dead Space 3 sales and an unannounced Dead Space 4 being cancelled are “patently false,” EA tells us. Spread the word!

— Gamasutra (@gamasutra) March 5, 2013

So while we don’t doubt that Visceral Montreal has undergone changes, it seems those didn’t lead to Dead Space 4 being cancelled or the series being canned.

Source: BestGamesNetwork

UPDATE: Gamasutra received a statement from EA that this rumour is fake.

Dead Space 3 ending was a cliffhanger and that kind of gave a clue that EA wanted to continue the franchise, however, it looks like the poor sales of the game have put a stop to that.

EA wanted 5 million sales from the game and it was also designed for the mass market and was made action oriented to attract new gamers to the franchise.

Videogamer‘s source mentions that the game was in the pre-production stage and was cancelled after EA executives visited the studio and informed them of the news.

The game did quite well critically and received a good 8.5/10 score on GamingBolt, but reviews are just one part of the equation, sometimes series like Killzone and the likes simply do not sell that much even though the quality is there, it looks like the same thing happened with Visceral Games’ franchise.

This is a rumour for now so take this with a pinch of salt. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.