"We're not interested right now": Original Dead Space creators say their pitch for a fourth game was turned down by EA

Dead Space
(Image credit: EA)

The Dead Space trilogy is one of the most iconic in modern horror gaming, and even though the remake did incredibly well, the original game's creators were rebuffed by EA when they pitched Dead Space 4.

Speaking to Dan Allen Gaming (in a video shared on ResetEra), some of the game's original creators, Glen Schofield, Christopher Stone, and Bret Robbins, say EA wasn't interested in their ideas.

"We tried actually, the three of us," Schofield says. "We tried Dead Space 4. We're talking this year. We didn't go too deep, they just said 'we're not interested right now'. We know who to talk to, so we didn't take it any further. We respected their opinion. They know their numbers and what they have to ship."

"The industry's in a weird place right now, people are really hesitant to take chances on things," Stone explains. "Take it with a grain of salt. Maybe one day, I think we'd all love to do it."

"We've got some ideas," Schofield teases.

When Allen asks if they'd go back to make the sequel "in a heartbeat," Schofield responds, "Yes," and Stone says, "I'd make a Dead Space 4." Schofield adds that "Bret might have trouble right now, Bret's got a good gig going." Robbins is currently working with former Rockstar developer Dan Houser at Absurd Ventures, which is now working on a new game set within the universe of it's audio fiction series, A Better Paradise.

🔴Dead Space Creators Break Down the Game & How Glen Schofield pitched Dead Space 4 to EA - YouTube 🔴Dead Space Creators Break Down the Game & How Glen Schofield pitched Dead Space 4 to EA - YouTube
Watch On

Dead Space has been the cornerstone of these developers' legacy, especially Schofield's, who made the similar but not as well-received Callisto Protocol. It was also a third-person sci-fi horror game set aboard an abandoned location in space and featured incredibly violent death scenes, but it just didn't find the same success.

Our Callisto Protocol review reads "There's an impressive game here," but "while the story's fine, and it looks incredible, The Callisto Protocol is constantly derailed by an unforgiving combat system that feels badly designed for the vast majority of the encounters you have to deal with."

I saw the original Dead Space on the shelf at Game many times over the years, but I always avoided it because, for some reason, I just didn't think the cover art of a severed arm floating in the void of space looked that interesting. Younger me was clearly an idiot, and my punishment for literally judging a game by its cover was not experiencing that wonderful, scary story until a friend of mine shook some sense into me years later and lent me his copy.

Now, I'd love to see Dead Space 4, so hopefully EA listens to the original team's pitch or makes a new one itself. We might also be getting remakes of Dead Space 2 and 3.

In the meantime, check out some of the best horror games you can play right now.

Issy van der Velde
Contributor

I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

Read more
A Titan readies for combat in an animated trailer for Apex Legends Season 19
Yet another Respawn shooter has reportedly been canceled, following the studio's Star Wars FPS and rumored Titanfall Legends game to the grave
Dragon Age: The Veilguard reveal trailer screenshot showing Lace Harding, a dwarven woman with long red hair and a freckled face
Legendary Dragon Age writer looks to Baldur's Gate 3 devs while giving EA advice after The Veilguard: "Follow Larian's lead and double down on that"
Angela holds a knife in Silent Hill 2 remake
Silent Hill 2 remake dev says he was "afraid there might be no good way" to rebuild the classic game without "archaic solutions and mechanics"
Dying Light 10 year anniversary
Celebrating 10 years of Dying Light's horror legacy: "We were doubting ourselves a little, and then the players stepped in"
A frozen child sits on a swing in the key art for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is "a weird-ass postmodern riff" on the PS1 original says Sam Barlow, talking the development 15 years later
Mara Forest walks in front of the Crow Country ticket booth in a piece of key art that retains the game's rounded low-poly visual style, but smashes together other elements of the theme park - such as a crow statue, gore puddles, dead trees, and explosive barrels - together in a way that isn't true of the actual space in-game, but conveys what to expect therein
Indie devs discuss why low-poly works so well for horror: "I actually think those limitations encourage weird, unique compromises"
Latest in Dead Space
Dead Space
"We're not interested right now": Original Dead Space creators say their pitch for a fourth game was turned down by EA
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 2 and 3 Remakes may be on the way if we all respond positively to this EA survey
Dead Space
Turns out Dead Space players have been upgrading the worst weapon
Dead Space
Like the original, the Dead Space remake gave its devs a major headache over one particular scene
Dead Space Line Gun
The Dead Space Line Gun location
Dead Space
Dead Space devs already have "ideas" for the next game in the series
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe actor was terrified to perform until her first mocap scene earned "a standing ovation" on set: "Maybe I can do this mocap thing"
Daredevil: Born Again
Marvel may have just sneakily confirmed one of the biggest Daredevil: Born Again fan theories
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Yasuke actor says that Naoe could beat his samurai in a fight: “Especially with that big a** helmet of mine”
The Legend of Dragoon
Beloved PS1 JRPG Legend of Dragoon wasn't meant to be a Final Fantasy 7 killer, Super Mario RPG's battle designer just said "I want to make a new RPG"
Fallout 76 screenshot showing an irradiated mutant man-like creature screeching, its sharp canine teeth showing
After 14 years at Bethesda, Skyrim and Fallout veteran made his final settlement in just 2 days – but only because he'd made some rough ones before that
halflife screenshot showing a headcrab jumping at a player
Half-Life devs worried Gabe Newell "promised things that they couldn't possibly deliver" for the iconic FPS, but "they just didn't know" that they'd be able to do it yet