Dead Space 3 has been available for exactly a month but, according to a source within EA that has spoken to VideoGamer.com, the game has sold so poorly that it may spell the end of the franchise.
The anonymous tipster states that because Dead Space 3 “failed to meet its sales targets,” Electronic Arts has dropped the axe on the already-in-development Dead Space 4. Furthermore, the report states that EA used the cancellation as a reason to close Visceral Montreal, which was doing pre-production work on Dead Space 4.
EA has yet to release official sales numbers for Dead Space 3, and likely won’t until their next quarterly financial report in May. For what it’s worth, a sequel to Dead Space 3 was probably part of the plan at some point due to the game’s cliffhanger ending.
When contacted by GameSpot, the publisher went one step beyond the usual “no comment” reply and officially denied the abandonment of the franchise and the cancellation of Dead Space 4. An EA spokesman said, “[The VideoGamer report is] patently false. While we have not released sales data for Dead Space 3, we are proud of the game and it continues to be an important IP to EA.”
