With 2008 survival horror third-person shooter Dead Space, EA created a hit title. Dead Space went on to spawn a sequel, a rail-shooter spin-off and a puzzle game, animated films, comic books, and a novel. But according to one insider, EA is just getting started.
EA is looking at new ways to expand Dead Space, an insider told Kotaku. The Dead Space team was apparently told that it must look at ways it can make the series bigger and better. Thus, according to the source, EA is working on a Dead Space first-person-shooter. That's not all.
This would not be a first. Back in 2009, EA released an on-rails Dead Space shooter for the Wii called Dead Space: Extraction. The game, a prequel to the first Dead Space, was ported to the PS3 earlier this year.
EA's desire to expand Dead Space is also apparently why there are plans to make a Dead Space flight game—in short, it's Dead Space, but you're flying ships.
The insider added that after these titles are completed, the Dead Space team is moving forward on "an Uncharted-like game". Work on this game has not started yet, and the title is still supposedly in the early planning stages.
Dead Space's expansion comes as a management shuffle at EA brought in new brass that nearly killed off Dead Space 3—the reason being the Dead Space games don't sell like games like Uncharted games do. This change also means that there are likely to be fewer risky new big titles, such as Mirror's Edge.
Dead Space 3, however, is apparently not cancelled. The insider told Kotaku that the game will be co-op and set on an ice planet. That backs up earlier rumors that Dead Space 3 will be trade pitch blackness for a blinding, frozen tundra. As Kotaku previously posted, the next entry takes place on the planet Tau Volantis. The planet's "white-out blizzard conditions" may trade the blackness of previous Dead Space games for pure white, a new method for keeping the beasts of the horror franchise well hidden from view.
The third entry will also supposedly be the last Dead Space to feature engineer Isaac as the protagonist, thus ending a trilogy.
After that the Dead Space franchise is, as previously mentioned, moving on to an action-heavy Dead Space game. Think Uncharted in space.
None of these Dead Space games are yet official. Even Dead Space 3, which was apparently outed in September, hasn't been officially announced. Considering how often game titles are killed off in production, if true, a similar fate could await some of these games. Or, it's entirely possible that EA pushes them out the door and releases them.
If so, Dead Space the FPS, Dead Space the flight sim, and Dead Space the adventure game would only dilute what makes Dead Space, well, Dead Space, diluting it.
Kotaku is following up with EA and will update this post should the company comment.
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