Rumour: Dead Space Series in Trouble Following Poor Sales

The future of EA’s science fiction horror series Dead Space is in doubt following the poorer than expected sales of Dead Space 3.

A source told VideoGamer.com that development of Dead Space 4 had been shut down during the pre-production stage by EA.

The source, who was “familiar” with the series, also spoke about the troubled development of the third game in the series.

Apparently a switch to generic rather than weapon-specific ammo was made late on to accommodate EA’s planned micro-transaction model.

It is also reported that EA had told Visceral to step further away from the series’ horror roots in an attempt to mimic Bioware’s Mass Effect and replicate its success.

Dead Space 3 was also nearly canned halfway through development, according to the source.

The news also adds to existing rumours of job cuts at EA, including at Visceral.

A former employee at Visceral’s Montreal base is claimed to have told Game Informer that “the entire studio has been laid off”.

Speaking to CVG last year, EA’s Frank Gibeau said that Dead Space 3 would have to sell five million copies to continue being a wise investment for the publisher.

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