EA boss mentions Dead Space 3

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 16 February, 2011

Series sales won't hit 4m until its launch.

Sales of Dead Space 2 have been double those of the original, but it won't be until the release of Dead Space 3 that the series will really take off, EA said.

Guess that means Dead Space 3 will probably happen, then.

Speaking during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, CEO John Riccitiello said: "Right now we've got strong, growing franchises including Madden, FIFA, Need for Speed, Medal of Honor and Battlefield.

And "Mass Effect, Dragon Age and the one that's sort of not proven that's coming later in our fiscal year, Star Wars [The Old Republic]".

"That excludes Dead Space because I think it will probably take Dead Space 3 before we get into that five million unit cadence versus say three, four."

He added: "It's the best IP portfolio in the industry and the history of our company."

Visceral's Dead Space 2 launched last month to critical and commercial success. EA chief operating office John Schappert said Dead Space 2 was outpacing sales of its predecessor by a factor of two to one.

Following comments from EA exec Frank Gibeau last year that the original game "didn't hit expectations" at retail there was a sense that this was Visceral's last chance to get the franchise to stick.

Developer Visceral, however, is sure to answer the call should it come. Last year executive producer Steve Papoutsis told Eurogamer he hoped Dead Space 2 would be successful enough for EA to ask for a third game.

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 (25) Latest comment 1 year ago

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

  • onezeonx #1 1 year ago

    Class game!

    Enjoyed 1 and 2 equally so looking forward to the 3rd!

  • Dangher #2 1 year ago

    I'm pretty sure that Dead Space 3 is a given. Especially considering the fact that more than half of my friends, who got Dead Space 2 rushed out to get DS1 after finishing the second one. Talk about delayed demand...

  • fleeboy #3 1 year ago

    Dead Space 2 = Epic Win

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #4 1 year ago

    There's already 5 dead Space games and 2 dead space films, of course there going to make more!

    Remember this isn't the film industry this is the games industry where you milk anything remotely popular till its teets fall off!

    /Loving Dead Space 2

  • Dizzy #5 1 year ago

    I am not getting DS2 even. DS1 was ace... and I don't want more. Some games don't need sequels.
    Edited by Dizzy at 16/02/11 @ 11:57

  • arcam #6 1 year ago

    Sounds like Mass Effect is gonna be more than just a trilogy...

  • unacomn #7 1 year ago

    Maybe by then the games will actually become good. DS2 was forgettable. It's like they tried to shoe in Resident Evil into Bioshock with a System Shock setting and ended up with monotonous, repetitive, scary as cockroach generic shooter.
    The only bit I liked was sliding down the train and hanging upside down while the beasties were trying to cut me to pieces. And even that was turned into an annoyance because of the idiotic camera.

  • Daeltaja #8 1 year ago

    This is such a contrast to how Activision are doing business. Granted, it might take 4 or 5 key EA franchises to match the sales numbers of 1 COD game, but it's a much better business model. If one of EAs titles flopped, it wouldnt feel the sting as much.

    Take note Acti!

  • ChthonicEcho #9 1 year ago

    Do sequels really require confirmation, nowadays? There's a scant number of original IPs hitting the game industry this year - Catherine, RAGE, Bulletstorm, Magicka, Homefront - and I bet most of them will have a sequel by the end of next year.

    I loved Dead Space 2 and would love to see Dead Space 3, but I can't help but secretly miss the days when sequels were a far rarer sight, and as such much more gratifying to see one confirmed.

  • onezeonx #10 1 year ago

    @Dizzy

    So you enjoyed DSpace yet you don't want to play the arguably better Dead space 2 out of principle?

    Well your the only one missing out

  • Vivid #11 1 year ago

    ...and this is the difference between having management with vision and management with last year's sales figures.

    I picked up DS1 second hand and loved it so much that I felt ashamed for not buying it from new. This time I bought the plasma cutter version ( http://www.digitalbattle.com/2010/10/13/... ). Even though my five year old daughter has never seen the game, she uses the plasma cutter to scare off any griblies on the way to bed. Pew pew.

    I'm on my second playthrough but one thing that REALLY annoyed me was the 'ahh we wanted you to get to the monument all along!' reveal. Why were they trying so very-very hard to kill me then?!
    Edited by Vivid at 16/02/11 @ 12:17

  • Markitron #12 1 year ago

    Hes right about that portfolio, that really is a great list of franchises. Compare that to activisions 1 franchise (not including blizzard) and EA have every right to be pleased

  • Skooch #13 1 year ago

    It's definitely a grower! Absolutely love the space station setting, the strategic approach to killing enemies put a new spin on shooters, love the horror/survival aspect, the sound fx and music are almost unparalleled in my opinion in terms of building tension and the weapons are imaginative and somewhat varied. When I think about the individual aspects of the game it is a killer game and it deserves at least one more iteration (just don't rape the franchise yearly EA!).

  • Jay-ITFC #14 1 year ago

    Funny how Mirrors Edge gets no sequel yet Dead Space is set to become a trilogy when both games originally sold poorly. Would like to see more of both!

  • DonnieDarko333 #15 1 year ago

    Loved Dead Space 2...cannot wait for a third entry!

  • Murton #16 1 year ago

    "Funny how Mirrors Edge gets no sequel yet Dead Space is set to become a trilogy when both games originally sold poorly. Would like to see more of both!"

    Dead Space sold 1.5 million overall I believe but "research" by EA shows that over 3 million unique gamer ID's have played it. This means a lot of preowned sales and a huge untapped market, something that undoubtedly worked in Dead Space's favour and won it the right to a sequel.

    Mirror's Edge I believe deserves a sequel just to improve on the first game, it was an innovator and if given the chance would have created an entirely new genre. I'm still reasonably confident that we'll see it again one day though, probably when the FPS arms race dies down a little.
    Edited by Murton at 16/02/11 @ 12:51

  • vyseofhr #17 1 year ago

    Pah, that's nothing, I sell 20m everytime on Game Dev Story :)

    Great game btw

  • GamesConnoisseur #18 1 year ago

    Dizzy

    Dont get the logic, as you could equally say Gears of War was such a standout title at the time you DONT need to play Gears 2 or forthcoming Gears 3 later this year?

    I checked your profile and you put Gears 3 among your most wanted, so what difference with the Dead Space franchise? Its getting comic, book treatments the same as Mass Effect. Both franchises got large universes that are rich in potential for further games even genres crossing.

    Both also have fans and haters.

    I would urge you to try DS2, even if its just essentially a simply another helping of what goes before, you wont want to stop eating your favourite meal, be it Chinese Chicken and Curry for example, just cos you had it before!

  • Bulbatron #19 1 year ago

    Apart from the crappy asteroid section, I loved the original. I'm hoping to pick up Dead Space 2 this weekend.

  • cw- #20 1 year ago

    @Murton

    After BF3 is shipped, I reckon (or at least hope) we'll hear something about Mirror's Edge 2 .. confirmed within 12months from then!

  • harryriedl #21 1 year ago

    Always wonder what the stats are for gamers buying the first games after a more successful sequel. I,e was their a spike in ME sales post ME2 launch. Likewise with dead space. So that original sales are boasted by a sequel

  • abot #22 1 year ago

    "Remember this isn't the film industry this is the games industry where you milk anything remotely popular till its teets fall off!"

    You're right Hollywood would NEVER milk anything.
    Edited by abot at 16/02/11 @ 17:09

  • ExplodingClown #23 1 year ago

    In other news: Pope Benedict may be a follower of the church of Rome; ursine predators observed defecating in sylvan environments. I'd be very surprised if they haven't started work on DS3 already.

    @Dizzy

    I can see your point. I went into the first Dead Space expecting very little and was pleasantly surprised, but am now very much on the fence having bought & finished DS2. It's left me with the same vaguely underwhelmed mindset I experienced after seeing 'Matrix Reloaded'. If the sequels are just going to showcase more spectacle hiding flimsier plots, then I shall find other things to spend my money on.

  • kuddles #24 1 year ago

    @ChthonicEcho: I kind of disagree. Yes, franchises have and can be milked to death, but games are unlike movies in that a lot of it is interactivity and technical challenges. Not that new IP isn't nice, but I like sequels in games because they get to take a template they originated and refine and build off of that for better results. That's why unlike movies or books, game sequels in many cases are easily better than the original (Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Dead Space just to name a few) because they don't have to build the entire dynamic from scratch and just polish out things that didn't work out the first time.

    @Jay-ITFC: I hear a lot of complaints over Mirror's Edge not getting a sequel but maybe it's for the best? To me, that news story sounded less like EA was completely against it and more that DICE had two years to start work on a sequel and came up with something that seemed unimpressive to them.

  • Architect_z #25 1 year ago

    Dead Space 1 was one of the first games I bought when I got my PS3, and I loved it to death.
    I've played the demo to dead space 2 about a million times, i just don't have the money for it at the moment.

    I hope Dead Space 3 is made, and i'm sure it will be. They need to do something about the multiplayer though. Dead Space 2 mp is just abit stupid and boring.

    Gonna have to buy DS2, as soon as i've finished bloody Demons Souls.