Although EA shuttered Dead Space developer Visceral Games in 2017, that doesn’t mean that another studio shouldn’t continue with the iconic horror game franchise. In 2018, the Dead Space franchise celebrated its 10th anniversary, suggesting that maybe it’s time to consider a relaunch of the series in order to allow players to return to the 26th century and step into Isaac’s shoes as he tries to make his way through abandoned spaceships and face creatures straight out of his nightmares.
The first Dead Space game launched for PC and consoles in 2008. That title quickly received praise from both fans and critics alike, thanks to its ground-breaking setting, graphics, sound design, and mechanics. Dead Space’s premise revolved around a systems engineer, Isaac, who finds himself stranded on an abandoned spaceship full of necromorphs, who are humans that have turned into terrifying creatures after exposure to an alien artifact called a Marker.
Dead Space’s combination of gore, horror imagery and minimalist on-screen HUD earned it a reputation as one of the scariest and most immersive games ever made. In 2009, a prequel released on the Wii, Dead Space: Extraction. Dead Space 2 released in 2011 and, at the time, became one of the most expensive video games ever made. Dead Space 3 came out in 2013. The series also launched two animated movies, a novel, and a comic. A live-action Dead Space film was even in the works.
Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3, though, failed to meet sales expectations. Although there was still much interest in the franchise, that was a signal of the beginning of the end. Then, in 2017, EA closed down Visceral Games, essentially putting a nail in the coffin of what was once the Dead Space franchise. But closing the studio shouldn’t necessarily mean the end of Dead Space forever, should it?
There is still interest in Dead Space, contrary to EA’s comments about players not wanting to play linear games. Visceral had plans for Dead Space 4, which included opening up the world a little more with a flotilla of ships. There were also plans to refine combat and fix the crafting system issues from Dead Space 3. Necromorphs would have been even more dangerous, with some new creatures even popping up when Isaac entered zero-gravity.
The Dead Space franchise established a fascinating, yet mysterious, central theme: the growing belief that humanity initially came from space. There is also so much more to learn about the Markers. Dead Space’s story still leads to a great deal of discussion about the franchise on social media. With so much interest still revolving around Dead Space, isn’t the time ripe now to announce a new installment in the series?
