Visceral wants to make Dead Space 3

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 21 September, 2010

Open world?

Dead Space 2 isn't out until January next year, but developer Visceral Games hopes it'll be successful enough for EA to sound the call for a third game in the action horror series.

The EA-owned developer has mapped out a huge timeline of events to draw upon when creating future games, and already knows where it'll take the story next.

But Visceral will only get the go ahead from on high to create Dead Space 3 if Dead Space 2 receives an "outpouring of support" from gamers and critics, executive producer Steve Papoutsis told Eurogamer this morning.

"We've mapped out where we'd like to go with it. Not at a super high level of detail. But, for instance, we've just released our novel, Martyr. We've talked about the inception of the Unitology religion.

"We've thought about it all. But ultimately, just like with Dead Space 2, we have to have the support from the players in order to do it.

"Hopefully the game comes out, people like it, it has critical support, and a lot of people buy it. And then we'll get an opportunity to do another one.

"Nobody's going to just let you go and do another game just because. You have to have the people that are interested in it.

"That was what was great about Dead Space 2. There was such an outpouring of support that it was easy for us to get the company behind it and give us the opportunity to make it.

"Games are complex and expensive. It really helps when you've got a lot of people who are excited and supportive of what you're doing. We can do great things when that happens.

"But when there isn't an outpouring of support it doesn't make a lot of sense to do that.

"We're working really hard to make sure this game's better so we get a chance to do Dead Space 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 20."

Dead Space 2, due out on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 28th January, continues the story of space engineer Isaac and adds competitive human versus necromorph multiplayer.

With Visceral at the polishing stage of development, attention turns to the future.

Papoutsis said a full-blown open world game "could be kinda cool", but not in keeping with the somewhat story-driven Dead Space experience Visceral excels at.

"I don't see why you couldn't [take Dead Space into open world territory]," Papoutsis said. "When we think about Dead Space we think of a very story driven experience. Generally speaking an open world doesn't lend itself to that.

"You can. There have been great open world games – inFamous – there are a bunch of games that have that element.

"But really what we're good at is that crafted progression you're seeing currently when we demonstrate Dead Space 2 and what you've seen in Dead Space."

But wouldn't Visceral get tired of making Dead Space games?

Not a chance, according to Papoutsis.

"It's pretty cool. We're all really into it. The fact that so many people care about what we're making – we've all been making games for years. It doesn't happen often where you get this level of support.

"I worked on a lot of different games. I worked on Tiger Woods, Lord of the Rings games, James Bond games, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – 15 years worth of games. This is probably the most support I've ever seen for a franchise I've been on. So it's pretty cool."

Tom went hands-on last month and returned with a Dead Space 2 preview. A video showcasing the multiplayer is below.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • McBradders #1 2 years ago

    Yes. Please. Anything more Dead Space would be awesome.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #2 2 years ago

    How's about getting Dead Space 2 out there and well reviewed before considering DS3 eh? :o)

  • ZuluHero #3 2 years ago

    Agreed! And to think I almost missed out on the excellent first because of EG's 7!


    (I know, I know, we just can't let that go can we?)

  • mfnick #4 2 years ago

    Open world Dead Space? Please God NO!

  • Markitron #5 2 years ago

    Like most ppl I was a bit put off when I heard about the MP in dead space 2, but the recent reveal has turned me around. Its survival MP and that def fits into the dead space theme. I had the same reservations about Uncharted 2 MP and that turned out to be brilliant fun.

  • Daeltaja #6 2 years ago

    A lot of its success rests on how EA handle its marketing. I think DS fits very well into their portfolio, there really is nothing else quite like it at the moment. I'd love to see the series evolve and move forward, I'll be picking this up day 1. First one was fantastic.

  • FogHeart #7 2 years ago

    I say we take a set of Dead Space stocks to the Expo, lock Whitehead in them and throw rotten tomatoes at him. Then we can stop complaining about that score.

    I really like the way this has been made into a multi-media mythos - first person game, lightgun game, manga video, online comic, now a novel! The basic premise covers all the bases - aliens, zombies, government conspiracies, spaceships, religious sects, mad people...I can see this running on and on in the various forms as long as the story doesn't take any strange turns.

    Edit: Trivia Corner! Papoutsis is Greek for 'shoe'.
    Edited by FogHeart at 21/09/10 @ 13:21

  • menage #8 2 years ago

    Well, I loved DS, and I really want DS2, but focus on this one first boys, Jeez.

  • geeza2020 #9 2 years ago

    More single player dead space please. I prefer the idea of being alone, scared shitless in space. The multiplayer vid just reminds me of L4D 1/2 and there is simply no way a game with clumsy third person shooter controls is going to work as a competitive multiplayer game when compared to a game like L4D.

    But as long as it doesn't take away from the singleplayer experience then they can chuck in all the MP options they want.

  • bad09 #10 2 years ago

    Well let's see how the worrying focus on action and yet another multiplayer mode shoehorned in even though not many really wanted it in Dead Space 2 before 3 shall we. But yeah if 2 is as good as 1 I'm up for more!

    Just installed the first again for try it out on my new card. Sexy.
    Edited by bad09 at 21/09/10 @ 12:48

  • Markitron #11 2 years ago

    @pswii6o

    I dont think even EG can believe they gave Dead Space a 7, let alone us normal folk

  • SpaceMonkey77 #12 2 years ago

    I'd be game for more Dead Space. Loved the first one, and will get the sequel.

    Dead Space 3? Why not. Its a great alternative to Resident Evil, which is starting to drag a bit.

  • andromeda #13 2 years ago

    that MP video above is strange. Looks like the gfx engine takes a severe hit to accomodate MP. There's no shadows under some players and the lighting looks very weak, which you cannot say for the SP.

    Say what you want, but this is just another tiresome attempt to make more money by taking it online and hopefully roping in more customers, as the ( good ) original game never really achieved..

    It really says a lot about a company's integrity when they take a game that was solely about being alone in the dead vacuum of space and then turn it into a gore party.

  • Tomo #14 2 years ago

    Is paragraphing out of fashion now or something?!

  • kupocake #15 2 years ago

    7/10 is the right score for any game that ends with an escort sequence bookended with a 'shoot the glowing yellow things' boss.

    Looks like they're addressing the mediocrities of the first game with the sequel though, but I think the dev has to be realistic and expect a long, hard sell for the title, exactly as happened with the first. Quarter 1 is apparently the new Christmas, and I won't be the only one saving January pennies for Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and probably even Crysis 2. And not forgetting the PS3 version will have the tried and tested RPG TPS Mass Effect 2 to contend with as well. This is probably not even an exhaustive list...

    Seriously, couldn't someone move one of these games forward to before Christmas? I couldn't give two shits about Medal of Duty, and I don't want to get a bunch of preorders under the Christmas tree.
    Edited by kupocake at 21/09/10 @ 13:21

  • kangarootoo #16 2 years ago

    @andromeda

    "It really says a lot about a company's integrity when they take a game that was solely about being alone in the dead vacuum of space and then turn it into a gore party."

    Did it not occur to you that just because you don't want multiplayer doesn't mean nobody does? I'm puzzled as to how you think integrity comes into it - its not like DS1 was short of gore, and equally its not like multiplayer will be the only way to play.

  • whome #17 2 years ago

    DS is brilliant, am 2 sure will be the same, no need to go looking to milk the open world cash cow, just stick to what the first game did so well.......

  • muscleblade #18 2 years ago

    Dont put in MP achievements atleast. I need to have the full 1000. Bioshock 2 ruined my full score because of some stupid supergrindy mp achivements.

  • geeza2020 #19 2 years ago

    If it was just multi-player co-op through the main story that would be fine, but competitive multiplayer? It just doesn't fit deadspace.

  • DaftVice #20 2 years ago

    Looking forward to DS2. Some more Soul Reaver too please!

  • Skandalle #21 2 years ago

    I think open world would kill the atmosphere of a horror title....
    could just be me though.

  • IMD1_Pk #22 2 years ago

    I can't believe people get riled up over scores still. Even still I always thought 7 meant a game was good. And Dead Space was good. Plus Eurogamer has known to have strict reviewers for a long time. It's just the past few years that they started going soft and giving a higher proportion of games better ratings.

  • albinac #23 2 years ago

    i loved the first game and i am going to get this one as well, on top of that im getting the limited edittion which has the ds extraction and top it all of it is comming out on the same day as my birthday. greath greath greath.

  • Oh-Bollox #24 2 years ago

    I can't wait until Dead Space 4, which introduces a much younger protagonist with floppy hair and a more action-oriented style of gameplay.

    And then Dead Space 5, which will reintroduce Isaac, and be a big pile of shit.

  • frenchlies #25 2 years ago

    Someone should fire Wesley, if only for his inability to close quotes and write entire paragraphs. For a site known for its writing, the quality of Wesley's articles is really shameful.

  • FogHeart #26 2 years ago

    Frenchlies, go back to school:-

    In proofreading and editing your writing, remember that quotation marks always travel in pairs! Well, almost always. When quoted dialogue carries from one paragraph to another (and to another and another), the closing quotation mark does not appear until the quoted language finally ends (although there is a beginning quotation mark at the start of each new quoted paragraph to remind the reader that this is quoted language).

    I am afraid I am putting a red mark on your above work and will give you some lines. Write out a hundred times:-

    "If a grammatical mistake is made consistently over and over, it may not be a mistake - rather, I may be mistaken in not knowing all the rules that apply.

    "Here endeth the lesson."

  • funkateer #27 2 years ago

    As much as I liked Dead Space (and I liked it a LOT), I'm not sure how I feel about "Dead Space 20"

  • TwitchyMcTwitch #28 2 years ago

    Ok, well I'll just wait for dead space 20 then.