Update: Rumor: Poor Sales May Have Killed Dead Space

[Karloff]

Update: Rumor: Poor Sales May Have Killed Dead Space

In the wake of Visceral Montreal's closure comes rumors that its Dead Space 4 mock-ups won't be needed.

In the wake of the closure of Visceral Montreal [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122300-Rumor-Electronic-Arts-Closes-Visceral-Montreal] comes hints that the Dead Space franchise may have been killed, as a result of poor sales. Dead Space 4 had been in pre-production at Visceral Montreal - prototype and mock-up builds - when the news came down from EA. Electronic Arts has yet to officially announce the status either of Dead Space 4 or the franchise in general.

The Visceral Montreal closure news has since been confirmed via Twitter, by Army of Two's lead VFX artist ridiculously high [https://twitter.com/marcDAmico/statuses/304795037148000258], and given Visceral's layoffs, it seems likely that this rumor will be confirmed.

Dead Space 3's need for high sales was the main driver behind its switch to co-op play, and its change in aesthetic from horror to action title with microtransactions. Not that long ago, Visceral producer John Calhoun claimed that money wasn't a motivating factor behind the microtransactions decision, claiming [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121805-Dead-Space-3-Dev-The-Last-Thing-We-Think-About-is-Money] that "Dead Space 3 shares the exact same DNA as Dead Space 1 and Dead Space 2 ... the last thing we think about is monetization." Not long after that statement, and after the Dead Space 3 launch, Visceral staff started getting fired.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-05-ea-cans-dead-space-series-following-poor-sales-of-dead-space-3-report]

UPDATE: According to Gamasutra [https://twitter.com/gamasutra/status/308965374483898369], EA has described the Dead Space rumors as "patently false."

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[Akisa]

Oh geez take out any originality, add co-op to a horror game and add micro transaction to a full price game, how would it ever fail?

 

[Alandoril]

Where was the need for it to sell insanely high? I can understand that EA WANTED it to sell 5 million copies, but it certainly did not NEED to.

They'd be fools to completely dump the franchise going into the next gen...unless they have plans for an equally evocative sci-fi adventure in the works.

But as a player (and a writer) Dead Space 3's ending was so piss poor weak that they better give us a bit more closure in the dlc if they're not going to carry on with the series.

 

[MercurySteam]

A great series was given unrealistic goals, even changed dramatically all just to make more profit. And now that the game hasn't met those goals the developer is being made to pay for it - they're firing parts of the dev team less than a month after the damn game came out. This is not going to end well and it actually may be the first time in history that EA has directly pissed me off.

You guys don't want me as your enemy.

 

[Piorn]

The sad thing is, with companies hoarding old IPs and not doing anything with it, Dead Space might end up VERY dead.

I hope they sell the IP to some Indie team, who can make good horror games out of it.

 

[Erttheking]

Yeah well, was their any any any doubt that EA's plans aren't exactly sustainable in the long term?

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I actually just started playing Dead Space 2, and it seems like a pretty good game so far. I've heard that 3 is worse, but still, Dead Space had a unique style that I quite enjoyed, it's too bad that such ingenuity can't last.

 

[infohippie]

Or maybe, and bear with me here 'cause this is just a crazy idea off the top of my head, just maybe... The way EA turned it into Call of Duty With Space Zombies might have had something to do with it not selling so well. Maybe the people who liked Dead Space the way it was didn't want yet another crappy shooter, and maybe the people who like games like Call of Duty are already satisfied with, say, Call of Duty?

 

[GameChanger]

Well at least they don't base this off MetaCritic scores...

 

[Eppy (Bored)]

You know, I've tried not to just up and blame all of the world's troubles on EA...

...But yeah, those bastards. They were trying to turn a really successful niche title into a AAA superstar like CoD. What did they think was going to happen? DS3 was never going to sell five million copies, and if they invested that much in it that five million sales were necessary to recoup development costs and turn a sizable profit it's their damn fault. It's not a reason to shut down a franchise that could easily have succeeded on a smaller scale.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Wait, so you mean the series that might have barely exceeded 5 million sales in it's lifetime, didn't hit 5 million for one game? Which some of the changes made to it turned away some fans of the series like myself? Colour me surprised >.>

It's a shame too, as before what I'd heard (and what I'd experienced in the demo) about Dead Space 3, I enjoyed the series.

 

[Spiritmaster]

You guys don't want me as your enemy.

Oh crap, its Zone Tan, watch out for suprise tentacle attacks EA!


Anyway, I hate to speculate on what this particular failure means on a larger scale for the game industry, while Dead Space 3 was as "safe" a game as could be made, I doubt its failure will inspire companies to start taking more creative risks.

 

[Sixcess]

Dead Space was doomed from the moment they said they had to sell 5 million copies to keep the franchise viable.

What baffles me is that when that quote originally started making the rounds I don't think anyone thought it was remotely feasible. Sure, the internet is not renowned for its optimism, but when everyone is saying it's not going to happen I have to wonder why the decision makers at EA thought it could.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Oy...

Did anyone not see this coming? Because I saw it coming.

As soon as I heard EA say "It needs to make 500 million sales to justify its existence" I knew this was gonna happen.

Congrats, EA. You just killed dead space. It could have been a good, reliable niche series. But no. With you, it's either make billions, or bust. -_-

 

[Rednog]

Oh geez take out any originality, add co-op to a horror game and add micro transaction to a full price game, how would it ever fail?

Did you even play the game? Based on your statement I'm assuming you didn't.
Just an FYI you aren't forced to play the game co-op, there is a single player where you are alone. Also micro transactions aren't needed at all; most people who play the game will be absolutely flooded with resources by the end of the game.

 

[Atary77]

I won't be surprised if the next story I read about visceral is about layoffs or closing

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

If it's not poor sales it's piracy, ALWAYS.

It is NEVER - I repeat NEVER - the fault of the publisher or the developers making poorer design choices at each corner.

Fucking consumers, can't they ever do anyhting right???

"Dead Space 3 shares the exact same DNA as Dead Space 1 and Dead Space 2 ... the last thing we think about is monetization."
This is true, though, money is not the last thing they think about - it's the first thing...


/sarcasm

 

[squid5580]

As a fan this pleases me. We don't need DS 12. Shitty that it is about politics and not creativity to leave it as a trilogy

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I'm sorry but I have to say...


It may seem a little early due to lack of any official confirmation but this is EA we are talking about.

Spoiler: Ahhh well