Ben-DutkaYou simply cannot afford to take a step back in today's ultra-competitive, cutthroat interactive entertainment industry, even if that step is a small one.
Dead Space 3 didn't exactly fall flat, but to many, it represented a departure from what made the first two entries so very special. And unfortunately, that departure – which also resulted in lower than anticipated review scores – may have doomed the award-winning franchise.
After the sales of Dead Space 3 failed to impress EA, it seems the publisher may have canned development on the next sequel. According to VideoGamer , Dead Space 4 was supposedly in pre-production at Visceral Games and Visceral Montreal, but the latter has been shuttered in a restructuring move. On top of which, a source close to the issue said EA reflected on the troubled development of Dead Space 3 , which suffered numerous budget cuts and was almost canceled at one time.
The game's perceived switch from mostly survival/horror to mostly third-person action shooter didn't go over well, either, and neither did the addition of microtransactions. We don't have up-to-date numbers on DS3 sales just yet, but EA has said in the past that their AAA productions need to sell in excess of 5 million copies if they want to survive. And that probably won't happen for the latest Dead Space .
Related Game(s): Dead Space 3
F'ed with a great formula from the first game and added stupid microtransactions. EA is the reason this game bombed. I absolutely hate that company.
It's to bad as I am really enjoying DS3. Seriously the COOP doesn't change this game at all. The micro-transactions don't change the game at all. Let me explain as I have not played COOP or used micro-transactions in DS3 and I am 60% done with the game. Isaac is always alone when you are killing necromorphs. So far there is no AI shooting partner that tags along. Only during some cut scenes does Carver show up because COOP was built in. Otherwise you are going through area after area alone as Isaac. This is exactly how I was hoping the game would turn out after COOP was announced. Hopefully this will get picked up or sold to another worthy dev team as I thought Visceral did a fantastic job! The Dead Space universe is wonderful and shouldn't end like this.
Last edited by CrusaderForever on 3/5/2013 11:13:01 AM
Imagine Insomniac picking this up
I want to second this. I'm not finding DS3 disappointing at all. It is STILL a deliberately paced Dead Space game. Like Crusader said the microtransactions factors very little if at all in this game. The game isn't Gears of War in the DS universe. COOP is both fun and well handled but in single player its just you and all you. I find it troubling that a company would determine on the status of a franchise based on review scores.
@Xombito
I agree and to axe a beloved franchise this early after release is hurting DS3 sales. Many gamers will look at this as a sign that DS3 sucked and now won't buy it. This is a head scratcher by EA. Shooting themselves in the foot is becoming a new found business practice for them.
I have yet to play Dead Space 3, but It's a series I have previously enjoyed and I can't believe it to have done so badly after the previous two. I played the demo and didn't mind it but it was just released at such a busy time with a release every week, I had to choose Ni No Kuni over it I'm afraid.
That's the thing, there are just too many incredible games coming out right now, no one could possibly keep up with them all. I skipped Dead Space 3 for the time because there was just no time at all for them. Gears and God of War have new entries coming out within a week of each other! Metal Gear Rising! New Fire Emblem for 3DS! Bioshock Infinite at the end of the month! And on and on and on. Something had to slip.
So they wanted to make 5 million but then cut the budget and had to resort to a more arcade like experience instead of what people wanted ie. survival horror with high production values like Dead space the original ,knowing the game was gonna piss people off they decide to shove micro transactions in to make as much money as possible….nice way to kill the franchise ea.
Clap clap clap
Have not played DS3 yet but i'll pick it up on the cheap some day.
Last edited by Lord carlos on 3/5/2013 11:26:36 AM
Now the tweets have started coming in from ds3 devs saying its not cancelled.
Who to believe?
Loved the first one , the second was good but too much action ( i cared for more dead space cause of the survival horror aspect )and the demo of DS 3 turned me off since they kept it all action ( don t even have time to enjoy doing some dismemberment ).
I ll still buy # 3 cheap tho .
Last edited by berserk on 3/5/2013 11:25:11 AM
yeah feel the same
i liked how DS2 made you relive some of the scares from DS1 and in some places i remembered what was through a certain door(decontamination)and was reluctant to go in!!
Haha Dead Space 4. Its funny because i had a conversation about that. I said the plot would be about the homeplanet of the markers and the one that everyone thought was the first one was the prototype to the real one making the plot of 2, 3 irrelevant. Fun game though. To easy though. Getting really tired of games being easy. In DS2 on Zealot you were so hard pressed for ammo you had to choose what to shoot and what to skip. In DS3 i found more health and ammo than i knew what to do with.
i'm with ya on the games getting to easy point!
Well said
Dead Space 3 goes the action route and underperforms.
Resident Evil 6 goes the action route and underperforms.
Is anyone getting the signal out there that fans actually DO want real horror games, and not just shooters with a dark color palate?
Apparently not. Apparently EA wants to dilute every genre into an action shooter hybrid.
Happened with the ME series, happened with DS3, and happened with Dragon age, minus the shooting aspect.
EA takes great franchises and butchers them and cuts the budgets. Why? Because they are scum and have to cut budget to keep profits up.
Whats worse is they did all of this and then put micros in there in hopes that they could make some more profit off of a game they cut the budget too.
I think companies need to get a grip and realize not everyone wants everything to be a diluted twitch shooter :
Kind of sad, as I enjoy the series a lot, but honestly, how many sequels do we need to ANY on-going franchise, let alone this one? I said the same thing when Insomniac pulled the plug on Resistance: I think it should be ok to develop a great game series,iterate and improve via a couple sequels, and then pull the plug once you run out of steam? You can always start it back up again later if you think you have a particularly great way to do so.
If there's one thing we don't lack in video games, it's sequels. I'm ok with even great series having a solid run and then bowing out before we all hate it with a passion (see: Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, etc.)
DAAAM U EA! U RUIN EVERYTHING U TOUCH! DAAAAAAAAAAM U!!!
Buried alive……buried alive……
KHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!!
Sorry, just had to do it! 🙂
Last edited by CrusaderForever on 3/5/2013 2:13:54 PM
Ha! The action was supposedly "a necessary evil". Yeah, one that finished you off.
Medal of Honor, Dead Space 3. What's next EA? Need for Speed? Lol, probably not. I don't think that franchise can die.
Good, now back to Dante's Purgatory.
So, you think your game bombed because of microtransactions and a change of gameplay direction.
Your solution of course is to cancel a subsequent title rather than scrap the microtransactions and take the game back to its roots. Give your consumers what they ask for. DO NOT say this is the shit you get, take it or leave it, simply because the analysts suggest this model will net you the most revenue.
If anything they probably only cancelled plans to make it an annual game.
Not surprised at all. EA is notorious for this what else is new?
An EA rep said this rumor is untrue.
And yet EA still makes Army of TWO
obviously.
the day EA cans dead space is the day M$ cans halo, ninty cans mario, and antivision cans COD!
ok it may not sell as well as those others, but it is one of EAs best selling franchises!
plus dont forget it hasent been going for HALF as long as those franchises!
nor has it seen half as many releases!
considering how long its been on the market, and how many titles we have had, its sold extremely well!
EAs not going to throw that away, especially just off a games first month sales!
6 months of poor sales would make this story laughable, but 1st month of sales?
give me a break!
a publisher canceling one of their BEST selling franchises after 1 titles first month sales being lower than expected, never have i heard such a ridiculous claim!
if EA can dead space because of 3s first month poor sales, than MW4 is going to sell 1M units within its first month, and because of that antivision is going to cancel the franchise.
thats how ludicrous this story is!