While initial reactions to EA’s announcement last week that Dead Space is getting a fully-fledged remake have been almost universally positive, many have nonetheless voiced concern over the potential return of a heavily criticized feature found in the series’ third (and currently most recent) entry. Released during a time when both co-op and microtransactions were experiencing massive surges in popularity and prevalence respectively, Dead Space 3‘s shoehorning in of both when neither previous installment contained them didn’t sit well with, well, anyone.
Those missteps, likely mandated by EA, would ultimately result in hastening the franchise’s fall from grace and the subsequent closure of the original developer, Visceral Games. It goes without saying, then, that a repeat of those mistakes is something the publisher, as well as Isaac Clarke’s adoptive caretaker, Motive Studio, are keen to avoid with any future installments.
There’s no guarantee, of course, that Dead Space 4 will ever come to fruition, but if it has any chance of materializing, making a good impression with the upcoming remake is critical to getting the green light for such a project. That being the case, Clarke’s next-gen revisit of the derelict USG Ishimura will be devoid of any and all microtransactions. Confirming the reassuring news to IGN in a recent interview, senior producer Phil Ducharme stated that the team has no intention of ever adding the option.
What’s more, Ducharme also teases that several adjustments to the first game’s story could be par for the course, though such amendments would only be made for the sake of continuity which Visceral may have left out due to not knowing if a sequel would ever get made.
The Dead Space remake is in development for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC. A release date has yet to be announced.