Dead Space 4 Put on Hold Due to Rising Development Costs and Massive Electronic Arts Sales Expectations Compared to Traditional Single Player Horror Revenue
It looks like any chance of a fourth Dead Space entry has been put on hold due to the ever increasing price of modern game development. Recently it has been announced by a writer/producer on the original horror series; Chuck Beaver, that Dead Space 4 is very unlikely given how the industry currently functions economically. According to Beaver a horror title simply can’t produce the high numbers required by publishers such as Electronic Arts in order to justify making a fourth installment into the game, with high prices included.
The core problem, as established by Beaver is one of spiraling production costs versus ever growing corporate expectations. Beaver said:
"[A] decade ago, a horror game could do 5 million copies sold and you'd call it a success. I'm assuming at EA it has to do something like 15 million copies to be called a success"
and this seems like an unreachable milestone for a traditional single player horror game. After all, the most successful single player horror games typically make 7 million sales, with Resident Evil holding the crown at that point.
The modern corporate world has now shifted towards the model of the 'live' single player game rather than static one time purchase title. Beaver compared the older model to:
"a business model based on fossilized remains"
which can no longer be compared to the constantly growing business model of live services such as Fortnite and its consistent income. It is very difficult to compare that against a single player horror game without some form of recurring transactions/microtransactions.
Launched in 2008, the original Dead Space received two sequels, the final title in 2013 completing the trilogy. Although EA has tried to reignite interest in the franchise with a remake of the original title in 2023 this has not managed to secure the go ahead for a fourth installment and that large gap between the 7 million sold of a genre leader and the 15 million expected of a business will forever remain the primary reason behind the silence for now regarding the continuation of Issac's story.
Source: frvr
