Dead Space 4 canned, series in trouble following poor sales of Dead Space 3

EA has ceased development on Dead Space 4 and effectively axed the series following lower than anticipated sales of Dead Space 3, VideoGamer.com has learned.

[CustardTrout]

Take that you micro transitioning poo faces!

[ironfist92]

Im glad Dead Space is done. The first game was amazing, the last two lack luster, and lost what the original had.

TBH, as much as I wanted it, Im glad we dont have a Sequel to Mirror's Edge. God knows how EA wouldve fucked that franchise up aswell.

[aCasualGamer]

Not necessarily only micro-transactions fault. It's the game itself.

Every publisher out there is thinking that more action and online is better, well there you go just look at the sales for Dead Space 3.

[Ares84HU]

Dead Space 2 was great. What are you talking about?? Only the 3rd one was bad. But they could easily revive the series by going back to it's roots abd forgetting about this shooter oriented co-op tacked on abismal that DS3 is. Crafting weapons was one of the worst part of DS3 and they just threw tons of enemies at you at every turn making it clear that it's all about the shooting now.

[schlanz]

Dead Space 2 was far from lackluster. 3 also.. it may not be the same level of "wow" as DS1 or 2 but it's far from being mediocre. I'm quite enjoying it.

Still I'm not sad to see the series end.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

Dead Space 3's lack of sales is a perfect example of changing a formula of a AAA Franchise. This is why so many games like CoD,Uncharted, Gears, Halo, Mario, Metroid Prime and God of War will ALWAYS seem familiar from their predecessors because you NEVER change your formula to a great franchise. If it's not broken, then don't try and fix it.

Dead Space 1 was awesome. It redefined the horror genre.

Dead Space 2 built on Dead Space 1 giving more action but retaining that horror element.

Dead Space 3 removed all horror from a survival horror franchise and all you had left was just mindless action that became stagnant and redundant quickly.

I would welcome a Dead Space 4 but only if they went back to their roots and focused on the Horror aspect of the franchise and took the action down a notch to be between Dead Space 1 and 2.

[wagnus]

There is a place in gamers' hearts for survival horror. And we would further know this if RE6 and DS3 stuck to it. Instead, they overloaded with action and I'm glad to see where they are now.

[Bimkoblerutso]

The devs should really be the ones that are ashamed. Any idiot could have told them that they would never reach the ridiculous goals set by EA. If they were going down either way, they should have just made the game they and everybody else wanted.

Instead they just look like so many other devs these days: corporate puppets.

[RE_L_MAYER]

I hope we dont see mirrors edge sequel as well....they will likely ff it up than make it better

[Mounce]

Hey now....

I preferred Dead Space 2 over 1. I won't mention 3 because I've not played it yet.

Dead Space 2 had Feels for the main character, something at least EA games can have in a way, like for every Mass Effect character that you don't want to die. The ending of Dead Space 2 with Isaac sitting there waiting for his death and just considering it all over and fine was epic. ;o

[Army_of_Darkness]

"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."

I just hope they learn from this and go back to what made dead space so awesome in the first place.

[RAVEN81]

mirror's edge was a bad game, dead space 1,2,3 are one o the best this gen.

[MysticStrummer]

DS2>DS1. DS3's step back had nothing to do with microtransactions or co-op in my opinion. It had to do with inordinate amounts of backtracking, the clunky resource gathering/weapons creation system, meaningless optional "missions", and setting too much of the game on a planet instead of in space where it belongs. I enjoyed it all the same, in fact my friend and I had a blast playing it co-op on Hard difficulty level for our first run through. We played without mics which helped to not kill the atmosphere. We both just thought what I listed above made the game not as good as the others. The Dead Space series is still one of the best this generation.

Edit - I will also say a negative was the amount of action, but I still enjoyed the game and didn't feel like anything I listed "ruined" the game. It just wasn't as good as the first two.

[Megaton]

Same, I'm glad to see it go. It's a mercy kill. EA can't ruin you anymore if you're canned.

A lot of people think Activision is the worst offender in the industry today, but I think it's most definitely EA. Activision sells a copy/paste shooter every year with a couple of overpriced map packs. EA ruins good franchises I actually care about.

[Derekvinyard13]

Il wait for a trilogy bundle

[JD_Shadow]

"Dead Space 3's lack of sales is a perfect example of changing a formula of a AAA Franchise. This is why so many games like CoD,Uncharted, Gears, Halo, Mario, Metroid Prime and God of War will ALWAYS seem familiar from their predecessors because you NEVER change your formula to a great franchise. If it's not broken, then don't try and fix it."

The problem with this thinking, though, is that if you change too little about a second or third, fourth, whatever, game, then you run into the issue of it always being the same old same old and playing it too safe. You want there to be SOMETHING different or improved about a game's sequel because it keeps the series fresh. It can stick to a familiar formula that has worked for it, but if you fall into a pattern of what game series like Madden has done where you don't add anything or improve the quality in any way, then it's not worth it.

[Seraphim]

The first was Classic. Second was great. The Third is... well I've yet to crack open the 3rd but I do have it. The Micro Transactions couldn't have helped this game. You only see people who refuse to deal with that crap not only not deal with it but not a game because of it. Sad. imo they definitely need to get back to the roots. 1 & 2 were great games. Use that formula and make a 4th. Also take a year or two off this time. Maybe late 2015-early 2016.

[BattleAxe]

I own Dead Space 1 & 2 on Steam, but haven't played them yet. But isn't it funny how EA in particular is trying to make every game they have into a "Call of Duty" game in the sales department.

This shows that the fundamentally do not understand their customer base. Medal of Honor was another disaster that didn't need to happen. Ubisoft, Sony, Take-Two and Activision all seem to blaze their own trails, but for some reason EA is run by a bunch of nincompoops.

[knowyourstuff]

EA got greedy and thought they could dilute the franchise to make money off of the lucrative action shooter market. They didn't implement it properly, made a crappy action shooter with no challenge, no survival aspects, and not a single person from the action shooter had a clue what Dead Space was all about.

EA alienated their original fanbase more and more with each installment, however they did nothing to market the game to a new fanbase. They marketed the game like a horror game every time, so the action fans weren't interested, and the horror fans saw that it was just a crappy action game, so no one bought the game. This is exactly how you do marketing wrong. This is also exactly how you destroy a franchise and alienate the fanbase that would've kept buying your games had you improved on the original formula, instead of diluting it into a pile of unfocused garbage.

[joab777]

I am not. Its very sad. Its obviously a cash grab that all these devlopers pushed out sequels, reboots, and prequels like water leading up to next gen. Problem is that only a few will make money and not as much as they would have. If u told me that at the beginning of 2013 i would see a DMC, Dead Space, Meatal Gear, Crysis, God of War, Gears of War, Tomb Raider, and Bioshock, i woulda lost my mind. But its exactly what we have and its fairly underwhelming. Now DmC was quality but pissed ppl off. Metal Gear is different and legit. God of War and Sony Santa Monica, while most likely not their main project will release a great game, Tomb Raider looks awesome and Bioshock is from a different reality where all games shatter ur every expectation. Not sure about Gears but it seems to be a Microsoft necessity this year. Crysis 3 is a quick release very similar to 2 but more polished. Dead Space is a shame.

Why didnt a few of these wait til next gen? Why did dead space go inthe entirely wrong direction. Wait til next gen and release the scariest,most insane and beautiful horror ahooter we have ever seen. Bam, IP resurrected and it would sell like hotcakes as a next gen launch title. But nope and Crysis could have done the same thing. Release the most beautiful conaole game we have ever seen. Spend alot of time and market well and take a shot at being the first legitimate fps mp and ppl would go crazy for it.

Its a sad day to see publishers kill ips. Dont they understand that changing genrea to appeal to a wider audience doesnt work. Even if it sells OK, u destroy games that coulda been legendary. Its as if they cant see the future and the impact that quality has over saturation.

[egidem]

...I fracking told you so EA!

Hate me, bubble me down all you want, but I'd rather see a good series like Dead Space (one of my favorites this gen) take a hiatus however long, rather than go down the (bad) milking road.

I've always loved the Dead Space franchise, especially the first one. It brought something unique, fresh and special onto the table. You've got an engineer, Isaac, who knows shit about fighting, just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

EA tried to take this into an action packed game rather than what it is - a horror game - and I'm glad it backfired on them in terms of sales. This shows that there are lots of fans out there who just didn't give into EA's bull tactics. It's been only 4 games (counting Dead Space Extraction) and I'm not surprised EA has already fracked this up.

I hope this is a wake-up call to EA (probably not) that turning everything into an action packed jamfest for the sake of pleasing investors, does not always work on the other end - consumers, fans and gamers alike.

[jimbobwahey]

Yup, EA got greedy and decided to give fans of Dead Space the finger by making the franchise more action-oriented and less of a survival horror game, because they wanted to chase down more sales rather than cater to the fans that they had.

What happened? Surprise surprise the game has been a total flop because it's not what people wanted.

It's depressing how many great franchises are being killed by publisher greed.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

lol Dead Space Series is cancelled do to poor sales!!! That's what you get ea!! Take your micro transactions and non horror action game and shove it!!! Bitch!!!

[Minato-Namikaze]

Dead space was never survival horror. Where do people get this from?

[Hazadess1]

Loved the first two, third had some great bits. The wrecked fleet was just class and the mine shaft towards the end was really well done (short though).

The game itself was to long and so much was copy/pasted. It had a good ending apart from after the credits.

Didn't bother with co-op and traded it in as soon as I finished it. Still have first two upstairs from new. Makes you wonder who is goin to buy the Awakened DLC this month.

[Dirtnapstor]

Yup, yup! Further proof EA had dabbled with Insomniacs Overstrike...the whole "wider audience" is going to kill uniqueness and innovation!
I'm liking DS3, loved the first two, and would have bought a fourth installment on the PS4. Hopefully things will begin to differentiate again!

[Army_of_Darkness]

I got the thought of dead space being survival horror from the first and second game, while also considering that most typical action shooters don't scare me with creatures popping out of walls and ceilings with creepy hallways and gruesome death scenes, I would say yes, it's definitely a horror game.

[Sovereign59]

The microtransactions were not detrimental in any way, they merely provided a way for players to acquire extra resources ASAP, resources which EVERYONE would be able to find a plethora of within the game without paying a penny extra. Microtransactions should not have affected the game's sales at all, it's possible that the many people whom ruthlessly complained about the game having microtransactions without first realizing just what the microtransactions would be providing are responsible for damaging the game's sales.

Also, this article isn't OFFICIAL confirmation of Dead Space 4's cancellation, OR if development of the game was even at conception. Let's not take it as 100% accurate just yet.

[schlanz]

So true.. you don't need to buy any resources to make anything. It's more like a "cheat" option. You need to pay to cheat.

People need to relax about microtransactions. If they are completely optional and don't detract from the experience by ignoring them, then what is the harm?

[rezzah]

I doubt it was the microtransactions that solidified the downfall of the series.

Especially since there were microtransactions in DS1 and DS2.

What made the series fall is the same reason that made the Resident Evil series fall (except RE was more blatant).

[MEsoJD]

Everyone that played the game would know that the microtransactions were not intrusive at all. Messed up that people are jumping on the hate bandwagon because it's a good game.

[Kurt Russell]

I'll buy myself a bargain priced DS3 at some point. But I was totally put off by micro transactions etc... I can't be arsed to support these devs anymore, that also goes for capcom.

[MysticStrummer]

So you avoided the game because it had completely optional microtransactions, which were basically purchased cheats/shortcuts that had no detrimental effect whatsoever on the game for people who didn't buy them? That makes no sense at all.

[ritsuka666]

It's EA for you. Premium subscribers rip-off for BF3,micro transitions BS,more action-oriented approach resulted in a different type of game compared to it's to earlier games...Bad times for gaming enthusiasts in this gen. =/

[FunAndGun]

Bad times for gaming enthusiasts indeed.

There is one thing about all of this that does make me happy however. Lately we have been hearing that "the hardcore forum gamers" don't hold that much power. That we are just a "vocal minority" in the grand scheme of things. Well, this is proof right here, that we have more power then they want us to believe. Voting with our voices AND our dollars for what we think is right does make a difference.

[Abdou23]

I hope with the next-gen around the corner that devs. realize that you shouldn't keep milking your successful games.

[Root]

I am so Happy about this

Look on the bright side guys we now don't have to watch our favourite series being butchered like Resident Evil

Thats what you get EA for ruining Dead Space

[DumpManager]

Very true. Lets also not forget jamming co-op into it.

[stage88]

Lets hope EA have learnt their greedy little lesson.

[C0MPUT3R]

unfortunately they haven't, and they never will.
.
It's the EA way.

[Agent_00_Revan]

The fact that they announced that ALL future titles will have some form of microtransactions means they haven't learned their lesson.

[adorie]

Retribution, I say. Against those who didn't think me giving it a 7-7.5 was justified. It was a decent game. But it strayed too much from the original formula.

Dead Space 1 AND 2 are still what the 3rd should have borrowed from. Especially Dead Space 1, it had so much atmosphere, thick enough to cut with a knife!

[morkendo23]

if only CALL OF DUTY, IMFAMOUS,BATTLEFIELD COMPANY,GOD OF WAR,LEFT FOR DEAD,GRAND THEFT AUTO,RESIDENT EVIL matter of fACT all!! first person shooters and all survival horror type games should follow dead space Departure.

REBOOT classic ps1-ps2 games instead.

[Hydralysk]

In what world are Infamous, God of War and GTA FPS or survival horror games? Or did you just pick popular titles because CAPS LOCK HELPS PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION TO ME!

[Haki1112]

The hell wrong with you? Half of that list you said isn't even a FPS

[Gamer1982]

The sad thing is its sold badly because of micro transactions. Yet they are going to bring this to every game in the future. EA have well and truly lost the plot as instead of doing a bit of research to find why the game failed they just shut up shop and thought "lets earn money elsewhere using micro transactions" not realizing THATS THE REASON YOUR NOT MAKING MONEY! It just doesn't work on consoles as console and PC gamers don't want it. We pay enough already for our games. Keep your micro transactions on your ipad games please.

[Philoctetes]

I loved the first two games, but as soon as they announced co-op for the third, I knew they were in Resident Evil territory.

Oh well. Thanks for two awesome games.

[Odoylerules000]

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy Gears of Dead Space War 3.

[kparks]

Ha that's what they get.. "We wanna appeal to the action shooter guys" karma is a bitch should of stuck with what made dead space so great.. But they went the resident evil route.

[Syntax-Error]

These publishers thinking they know more than the consumer is why games are coming out like this. I loved 1 & 2 and when I played the demo I knew right away that I wasn't buying this game anymore. How do you take out the horror to be more action oriented. Isnt the market saturated with that already? Everyone wants a Gears or Uncharted clone. There's no other IP out there like DS so that's why they should've stuck to their roots. Resident Evil went action and you saw what happened there

[BlackTar187]

RAVEN81 Mirrors Edge was not a bad game it was a pretty damn good game. Needed more length and a couple more action sequences but other then that the game was fantastic and i may just load it up soon.

[Cam977]

MOH and now DS? Man, EA are running franchises into the ground!

[Psn800]

When a franchise starts milking us gamers time to say goodbye to the franchise and the series , they can keep there microtransanctions .

[CalvinKlein]

I bought dead space 3 when it was on sale with my gift cards because I will be able to sell it when Im done for more, but from playing the first 2 chapters it wont be nearly as good as the first 2. Explosions everywhere, lots of falling and fighting enemies with guns.

Also funny is I put it on hard for my first playthrough and it says "resources are very limited." yeah right, buy the middle of the first chapter I had a full stack of stasis, 2 full stacks of lame ass universal ammo, 5 medium health packs and the rest of my inventory was completely full with small health. Scarce my ass, I was just throwing small health on the ground to pick up medium ones. Now that im finding crafting stuff I hope I wont get as much health. Enemies seemed ok tho but mainly only hurt you when they appear right next to you.

Should have focused less on flashy cut scenes, there were more in the first 2 hors than on both other games combined it seems. Just explosions and falls everywhere in DS 3 so far. Also way to many enemies with guns at the beginning shows the crappy gun combat.

I wish they would just learn their lesson and get back and make a survival horror game like the old ones on hard. You had to conserve your ammo/health and couldnt always use the gun you wanted like you can with universal ammo. They keep giving you machine guns in this game trying to make you an army guy.

There are other game modes with vague descriptions claiming to be classic like old dead space games and where resources are limited, but for some reason I have to beat their crappy version first.

[50Terabytespersec]

Good the game was boring and lacked anything revolutionary for a FPS..

[bryam1982]

how much they sold?

[brich233]

Dead Space 3 was a disapointment but it wasnt because of microtransactions.

[Gamer-Z]

EA, where all good games go to die.

[WeAreLegion]

I would agree, but 217 is my area code. Awesome.

[izumo_lee]

A real shame if you ask me. The first game had all the potential to overtake Resident Evil as the premiere series in survival horror.

Too bad they decided to Call of Dutify the game by making it more of an action game than a tense claustrophobic game.

[Oh_Yeah]

When dead space came out it easily became king of horror on consoles, there just isn't much competition. Even with the direction they took in 3 it was still better than anything resident evil has done...I can't call resident evil horror.. not one of their games have made me jump, play with the lights on, or poop with the door open, only dead space has accomplished that.

[izumo_lee]

It's ironic that both series decided to go the route of 'action' and both are in dire need of a rethinking of the direction the series needs to go. With Dead Space it may never get a chance to cause of this news.

Both series have made questionable decisions in game design & it is actually not that surprising that both are in deep trouble of being irrelevant.

[leahcim]

now we really need a new IP for retake the genre´s throne.

NO, I am not looking at you Crapcom!

[Philoctetes]

@izumo

My feelings exactly. I hope this is a lesson for other developers. Turning your successful horror franchise into COD is not a recipe for success -- please stop doing this.

[OmegaSlayer]

Devs should understand that the attempt of getting new audience at the expense of the fanbase does not pay off.
Call Of Duty is more of the same but keeps selling

DeadSpace and ResidentEvil added an unneded co-op and "bombed"
DmC rebooted the character because it was "silly" and in 7 weeks it sold less than Raiden with an even more silly looking character (cyborg in stilettos LOL) in 2 weeks.

Devs must add content and features, not change them.
Change is for new IPs.

[abzdine]

i never considered this game as a survival horror. It's an excellent action game but has nothing of a survival horror i am never in short of ammo i just have to shoot everything that moves.
survival horror should include lots of stress moments where you spend a long time with no ammo and you need to avoid eevrybody.

The king of SH this gen is Silent: Blood Curse. I felt so bad everytime i played that game. it stressed me like never before :D

[Hydralysk]

If you mean Siren: Blood Curse, don't say any more, that was the most infuriating game I played this gen.

You can barely tell what's scenery or whats an actual path. You have dumb child escort missions where the child dies if a monster brushes past her. You can pretty much kill any zombie easy once you pick up a farming tool or something. There like 6-7 character you switch between after episodes making the plot so convoluted I needed to look up an explanation on the story after I'd finished the game, and the explanation was also incredibly stupid in addition to being poorly explained. Then there's the god damn mission structure where you have a "last time" "next time" scene in every one of the 14 or so episodes and becomes extremely annoying if you're trying to play them back to back.

Siren Blood Curse can takes it's giant technicolor wasp and go jump of a cliff. Sorry about the rant, but have I mentioned I hate that game?

[monkey nuts]

Clearly you played through the game on normal. If you had done it on hardcore or impossible you would know that it is in fact survival horror. I jumped like a girl at times on DS1 and the shortage of ammo on the harder difficulties used to make me sweat, especially if you was on a 2nd or 3rd playthrough and you knew what ws coming.
For me anyway this filled and then surpassed what had got me hooked on resident evOl. Heres hoping they' ve learned their lesson and go back to the formula that made the first 2 so appealing.

[Hydralysk]

I don't think saying the game is harder on harder difficulties really justifies much, if a game wants it's enemies to be threatening, they need to be threatening on normal difficulty. I played DS2 on hardcore mode to get the platinum and that was a terrifying experience, but it wasn't that I was scared by the setting or feared for Isaac as a character, but rather because I was scared of losing all that progress to a stupid mistake.

Though my problems with Siren's gameplay weren't as pronounced as my issues with it's story. I could've forgiven them if the story at least had a payoff, but it never did.

Siren was definitely a survival horror game with some neat ideas, but for me it's not something that should be held up as a model for the genre.

[hennessey86]

To own the survival horror genre, instead they chose to go Hollywood.