After the videogaming world was left to speculate for some time, Electronic Arts has announced that its Visceral Games studio has been tasked with developing Dead Space 2, a direct sequel of the action title with horror elements published in the fall of 2008. The new iteration is set to be released for the PlayStation 3 from Sony, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PC. EA has not specified a release window, but the game might be scheduled to arrive in the fall of next year.

The publisher is saying that the hero of the first game, Isaac Clarke, will be reprising his role in the sequel and will again have to battle the Necromorphs, presumably on yet another spaceship that has been stranded in space.

It's not clear how his personal story will be advanced in the new Dead Space, but players who enjoyed the first title can look forward to more dismemberment action and tougher enemies. A new graphical engine is promised and more horror elements will be offered, including tougher bosses.

Nick Earl, who is the senior vice president and group manager at Electronic Arts, said that “Like so many gamers worldwide, we love the Dead Space franchise and are very excited to announce a new game in the series,” while Steve Papoutsis, who is an executive producer on the game, warns players to “expect plot twists that will surprise you and a huge cast of twisted, disgusting monsters that are sure to scare the daylights out of you.”

Dead Space 2 will not benefit from the experience of Glen Schofield, former general manager, and Michael Condrey, former Chief Operation Officer, who left Visceral Games in order to found Sledgehammer Games, a new studio controlled by rival publisher Activision.