Dead Space is arguably one of the most enduring horror franchises in video games after its run of three games during the seventh console generation catapulted it to a permanent place in the minds of many young gamers between 2007 and 2013. A decade after Dead Space 3 failed to match the success of the first two games, the much-loved 2023 remake of the first game from Motive Studio revitalized hope that we'd see the series make a huge comeback. But that's not going to happen, according to one of the game's original writers and producers, Chuck Beaver.
In an interview with FRVR, Beaver spoke about the franchise and admitted the truth that fans of the series don't want to hear, which is that we've likely seen the last of Dead Space with the 2023 remake. To be fair, we've known the franchise has been on hold post-Dead Space Remake for a while now, after reports that a Dead Space 2 Remake was never greenlit surfaced in 2024.
Not to mention a report from later in 2024 that indicated a fourth game was pitched and rejected by EA, making it feel incredibly doubtful that a fourth game would ever happen, well before Beaver's comments.
Still, as one of the original creative leads on the series, Beaver's realistic comments feel like the final splash of cold water on the idea that Dead Space 4 could see the light of day. "It wasn't like it didn't get a run out of it," Beaver said when talking about what it felt like after the series was initially shelved following 2013's Dead Space 3.
"I mean, it's disappointing that we can't make a beloved franchise to its logical end, but I guess I'm too much of a producer, [I've] been producing for too long. I understand the numbers, and I understand what's happening, and why even Motive wasn't really greenlit for anything after the remake," Beaver said.
The long and short of it, as Beaver put it, is, "The numbers aren't there." Beaver admits that there's clearly a strong fanbase behind the game, but the sales potential of the series simply isn't what EA considers worthwhile.
"Horror games have a bit of a ceiling, you know, and I think the number back in [former EA VP] Frank Gibeau's day was 5 million units to keep going on Dead Space. I think the number if like 15 million units now, given the cost of things."
While Beaver doesn't definitively say Dead Space would need to sell 15 million copies, saying that even reaching closer to 7 million would be "a pretty good number." But even that still shows the gap that Dead Space would need to make up, since the 2023 remake only reportedly sold over 2 million copies. Nothing to scoff at, of course, but not enough to convince the bean-counting video game executives to make another one.
It seems then that if you're still clamouring for another Dead Space game, the last hope you can cling to is Glen Schofield convincing EA to sell him the IP so EA is out of the picture, and Schofield can go make the Dead Space game he wants to make, hopefully with more of the original team, like Beaver, along for the ride.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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