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Dead Space 2 has sold around 4 million copies and that still wasn’t enough for Electronic Arts

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A couple of hours ago, we informed you about the closure of Visceral Studios. And now, former Battlefield Hardline and Star Wars level designer, Zach Wilson, revealed some really interesting information about Dead Space 2. According to him, Dead Space 2 sold around 4 million copies, and that still wasn’t enough for Electronic Arts.

Now while Zach Wilson did not clarify whether the game was profitable or not, he did reveal that it did not meet EA’s expectations. Zach Wilson also stated that the game under-performed. However, we believe that Dead Space 2 sold well. After all, we are talking about a horror game selling around 4 million copies is a big deal. And like it or not, this was, is, and will always be a niche genre.

https://twitter.com/covernode/status/920393692246134785

This reminds me of Square Enix’s ridiculous expectations for Tomb Raider. Thankfully, Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs broke even. However, and similarly to Square Enix, it appears that EA was not satisfied with Dead Space 2’s sales.

https://twitter.com/covernode/status/920421025405440000

The fact that Dead Space 2 did not meet EA’s expectations may explain the inclusion of all those ridiculous micro-transactions in Dead Space 3. And since Dead Space 3 was not a commercial success, EA decided to simply kill the franchise. That’s the most logical explanation as to why we never saw a new Dead Space game.

For comparison purposes, Zach revealed that the first Dead Space game cost around 37 million.

https://twitter.com/covernode/status/920446287530541056

These are some really interesting details about the production/expectations of triple-A games. Unfortunately, they also prove that most publishers are as greedy as they can get when it comes to the franchises they own. The sad thing is that a bit more reasonable sales expectations would guarantee the existence of new gaming experiences. But it appears that most publishers are simply looking for the the next COD or Destiny game (sales wise) instead of creating a nice portfolio of important titles.