Star Wars: Squadrons developer EA Motive is working on a reboot of the hit sci-fi survival horror series Dead Space, according to a new report by GamesBeat.
Instead of making Dead Space 4, Electronic Arts is planning a reboot of the series with a “full-fledged remake,” GamesBeat writes. This latest report corroborates two earlier ones by Eurogamer and Gematsu claiming some sort of Dead Space “revival” was in the works at the publisher, and that Star Wars Battlefront II co-production studio EA Motive would be leading it.
When Squadrons released last year, the studio made clear it would not be updating the online multiplayer game in perpetuity under a live service model, and would instead be moving on to other projects that weren’t Star Wars-related.
Dead Space 3 came out in 2013 and despite relatively positive reviews and seemingly strong sales, it reportedly did not sell enough to please EA executives. Instead of making Dead Space 4, development studio Visceral Games was put on other projects, including Battlefield: Hardline. Then in 2017 EA shut the studio down altogether.
Hope for video game sequels springs eternal, however, and dreams of a Dead Space 4 never completely died. Over the years former Visceral developers shared what their ideas and aspirations for a sequel were at the time, and even EA made claims that the series was never “dead.” Even so, many of Dead Space’s previous developers have now scattered to the wind. Former executive producer Glen Schofield is currently working on his own new sci-fi horror game, revealed at last year’s Game Awards, called The Callisto Protocol.
While it’s unknown if any prior key staff would return to work on a new Dead Space, EA Motive has been making new hires. Perhaps related, last week Axios reported that longtime Ubisoft veteran and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla game director Eric Baptizat joined the studio earlier this year to work on an unannounced project.