EA Aims to "Broaden" Dead Space Audience

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
EA Aims to "Broaden" Dead Space Audience


Electronic Arts says it needs to sell at least five million copies of Dead Space 3 to keep the franchise viable.

Dead Space 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Space-3-Xbox-360/dp/B0050SWVIQ/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339780246&sr=8-1&keywords=Dead+Space+3] was a little more "shootery," as a well-armed Isaac Clarke, in spite of the occasional, brief psychotic episode, transitioned into a fairly conventional videogame tough guy. Dead Space 3 will continue to "open up the accessibility" of the game, according to EA Labels President Frank Gibeau, who told CVG that it will remain a horror game but attempt to broaden its audience through the addition of new elements like co-op gameplay.

"In general we're thinking about how we make this a more broadly appealing franchise, because ultimately you need to get to audience sizes of around five million to really continue to invest in an IP like Dead Space," he said. "Anything less than that and it becomes quite difficult financially given how expensive it is to make games and market them."

Now, take a moment to digest that. Dead Space 3 - and all EA franchises, apparently, but specifically Dead Space 3 - needs to sell at least five million copies, presumably at full retail and not out of the $10 bargain bin a year down the road, to remain viable. That's problematic for a couple of reasons: First, Dead Space 2 managed "only" about two million unit sales in its first three months of release, which is to say the span of time during which the vast majority of its sales would be made; and second, because needing to move five million units to keep a series worthwhile is nuts.

I could be wrong, I suppose, and I certainly don't mean to suggest that EA won't actually pull the plug on any franchise it views as under-performing regardless of what the numbers are. But five million units, particularly for a middle-tier property like Dead Space, as a bottom-line number for survival? Maybe Gibeau is just swinging for the fences, but that's crazy.

Am I wrong?

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/353788/ea-we-dont-want-to-pss-off-our-fans-with-dead-space-3/?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-General-RSS]


Permalink
 

Fappy

\[T]/
Jan 4, 2010
12,010
0
41
Country
United States
If I cared about Dead Space I'd be raging so hard at this.
 

Atmos Duality

New member
Mar 3, 2010
8,473
0
0
EA,

Do you want to know how to ruin the appeal of a horror game? There are many ways, but subtracting any sense of vulnerability from the protagonist is a pretty good one.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
0
0
If you need to sell 5 million copies for it to be profitable, something is messed up with your business strategy and/or management.
 

RatRace123

Elite Member
Dec 1, 2009
6,651
0
41
Five million units?!

That's way too high of a number to hope for. Even in turning the series into uber-marketable "Gears of Lost Planet", 5 million is still too much.

Ugly business that might mean the end of a once promising survival horror series, but totally expected from EA.
 

Karadalis

New member
Apr 26, 2011
1,065
0
0
But the artistic integrity!

You cant change a friggin ending of a video game but you can turn a video game franchise upside down and turn it from something good into something mediocre?
 

Piflik

New member
Feb 25, 2010
255
0
0
I know I won't buy a Gears of Dead Space, so I think they will sell at most 1.999.999 units...
 

Proverbial Jon

Not evil, just mildly malevolent
Nov 10, 2009
2,093
0
0
Andy Chalk said:
"In general we're thinking about how we make this a more broadly appealing franchise..."
Oh god... here we go again.

So to make a game have a "broad appeal" is really just PR speak for: Just make it a shooter.

Ever heard of the word genre EA? Go look it up, I'll wait... Yes, that's right. You made a game in the survival horror genre, not that anyone would know it.

The same thing happened to FEAR by the third installment and arguably Mass Effect 3 as well.

The videogame industry should be thinking about ways to make these individual genres more popular instead of diluting them further with the carcinogenic tumor that is the chest high wall.
 

Jorec

New member
Jul 7, 2010
196
0
0
5 million copies to remain viable?! Well it was nice knowing you Dead Space. Its been a good run these last couple of years and its a shame to see you go. I'll remember you fondly.
 

MrMan999

New member
Oct 25, 2011
228
0
0
"Appeal to a A Broader audience"
Oh for christ's sake EA. Did you not learn what happened the last time you tried that? Did you not learn anything from MAss Effect and Dragon Age 2?
 

wooty

Vi Britannia
Aug 1, 2009
4,252
0
0
Seems from all the vids I've seen that they've just gone "Hmmmm whats popular with the kiddies? Oh, this Gears of War did quite well, lets just change the character skins and box art. Congrats everyone, time for another bonus".

I hope this shit tanks.
 

TechTim

New member
Apr 15, 2011
159
0
0
"broaden the audience" i.e. change core game dynamics in a vain attempt to market to people that didn't like the game previously
 

Sixcess

New member
Feb 27, 2010
2,719
0
0
hazabaza1 said:
Well, say goodbye to Dead Space after this, guys.
This.

EA... just wow. You literally cannot make shit up that's more wrong headed and greedy than what these guys come out with on an almost daily basis.

If any of my favourite game series were under the sway of EA I'd be fearing for their survival right about now.
 

Viper114

New member
Dec 3, 2008
45
0
0
As much as I liked Dead Space 1 and 2, I'm not liking the sound of this. Nothing good ever comes out of "broadening the target audience", and this may devolve from survival horror to just straight out shooter with co-op. I still have hope for this, but I'm not liking this so far...

And frankly, 5 million units is just not going to happen. Period. It's said JUST ABOVE that Dead Space 2 only sold 2 million units in the first three months. How can they reasonably expect to sell another 3 million on top of that? It's better that they just end the "trilogy" now rather than putting in a cliffhanger for a 4th DS that will never get made.