Those hoping for another entry in the Dead Space series may have to wait a little longer, according to reports.
EA Games Label boss Patrick Söderlund told Eurogamer during E3 recently that Dead Space 4 isn't in development but Visceral Games has plans for an unannounced game.
"I wouldn't say it's [Dead Space franchise] cancelled at all," said Söderlund. "Dead Space remains a brand that is close to Electronic Arts' hearts. It's been a great brand for us done by a very passionate team."
According to Söderlund, the Dead Space developer is "working on something else very exciting."
"Right now that dev team is focused on something else that you and other gamers will be very happy with," Söderlund said.
Söderlund continued: "I am of the utmost opinion that we have to put the best possible games in the hands of our fans. How you get to a great game, the first thing you need is a great development team that have a passion for building what they're building. That's a simple parameter. Everything else follows. Money, time, everything else follows. It's less relevant. That's ultimately how you get success. It's as simple as that."
The survival horror franchise was reportedly canned following Dead Space 3's poor sales in February that saw 26.6 cents fewer sales than its predecessor Dead Space 2. Closures to Visceral's Montreal studios were rumored to be closed following restructuring by EA executives.
Dead Space 3 had a turbulent creation process with budget cuts and even threats of being cancelled partway through development. Reports reveal that part of the problem came when EA advised Visceral Games to forgo the series' horror roots for more action more in lined with BioWare's Mass Effect series. This meant controversially having weapon-specific ammo being switched over for generic ammo late in development to integrate micro-transactions.
In May, VG24/7 reported a job posting from EA's site alluding to Visceral Games possible work on a next-gen Star Wars title. This would give EA two games in the franchise following the announcement of Star Wars: Battlefront at E3 last week.