14 DAY TRIAL // EA's Visceral Games studio is getting ready to complete Dead Space 2, the sequel to one of the most interesting third-person horror survival games of 2008, but is also looking towards the future, and revealed that it really wants to make more Dead Space titles, but only if fans will support the upcoming game.
Dead Space was one of the first new franchises on which EA bet big in 2008, alongside titles like Mirror's Edge, but didn't exactly reach sales success, largely because of the used game market.
Now, with Dead Space 2 getting ready to appear at the beginning of 2011, and with the promise of an even more engaging single-player campaign, alongside a multiplayer mode that will keep people plugged into the Dead Space experience for quite some time, things are looking much better for the franchise.
According to the executive producer of the new game, Steve Papoutsis, Visceral Games would love to continue developing the Dead Space franchise, especially as how it has already mapped out where it wants to take the story.
"We've mapped out where we'd like to go with it. Not at a super high level of detail. But, for instance, we've just released our novel, Martyr. We've talked about the inception of the Unitology religion.
"We've thought about it all. But ultimately, just like with Dead Space 2, we have to have the support from the players in order to do it. Hopefully the game comes out, people like it, it has critical support, and a lot of people buy it. And then we'll get an opportunity to do another one."
Papoutsis emphasized the role of fan support in the fate of a video game franchise.
"Nobody's going to just let you go and do another game just because. You have to have the people that are interested in it. That was what was great about Dead Space 2. There was such an outpouring of support that it was easy for us to get the company behind it and give us the opportunity to make it.
"Games are complex and expensive. It really helps when you've got a lot of people who are excited and supportive of what you're doing. We can do great things when that happens. But when there isn't an outpouring of support it doesn't make a lot of sense to do that. We're working really hard to make sure this game's better so we get a chance to do Dead Space 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 20."
Dead Space 2 is set to appear for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on January 25 all around the world.