The survival horror genre is seeing a resurgence thanks to the widespread critical and financial success of theSilent Hillremakes,Resident Evilremakes, and anticipated brand-new survival horror titles such asSilent Hill fandCronos: The New Dawn. WhileSilent Hillcontinues to make its revival from the cancellation ofSilent HillswithSilent Hill fand theSilent Hill 2remake, one other iconic survival horror franchise appears to be stuck in its unmarked grave:Dead Space. Despite the respect the Visceral Games series earned throughout the seventh console generation,Dead Spacehas remained effectively dead for some time now, but there is a slight chance for it to make a grand return going forward.
Recent Survival Horror Game Success Stories
Silent HillandResident Evildefined the survival horror game genre in the late 1990s, but toward the end of the seventh console generation, survival horror began to slowly disappear as many games skewed more towards an action focus. However,Resident Evilhelped lead survival horror back to mainstream popularity thanks to the critical and financial success ofResident Evil 7: Biohazardand the similarly celebratedResident Evil 2and3remakes.Silent Hilllikewise saw a welcome survivor horror revival with2024’sSilent Hill 2remake, which became the fastest-selling game in the franchise by selling over two million copies within its first three months.
In the wake of these survival horror success stories, more gaming companies and developers have begun producing more survival horror titles with similar critical and financial results. For example, Remedy Entertainment’sAlan Wake 2, released 13 years afterAlan Wake 1, became Remedy’s fastest selling of all time and won Best Game Direction, Narrative, and Art Direction at the 2023 Game Awards. Other companies are similarly jumping on the survival horror bandwagon with Creative Assembly developing asequel to the underratedAlien: Isolationand Bloober Team developing its own survival horror title calledCronos: The New Dawnfollowing the success ofSilent Hill 2. Meanwhile, Capcom and Konami are leaning more into survival horror with the anticipatedResident Evil Requiem,Silent Hill f, andSilent Hill 1remake.
EA wasn’t blind to the reemerging success of survival horror titles in the late 2010s and early 2020s. It contracted Motive Studio to developa remake of 2008’sDead Spacefor modern platforms to replicate the financial success of theResident Evilremakes and their peers. Motive’sDead Spacewas officially unveiled at EA’s Play Live event in July 2021 but wouldn’t officially debut until January 2023. Many critics praised 2023’sDead Spacefor its stunningly haunting visuals, immersive audio design, and updating of Isaac Clarke’s character, who was previously a silent protagonist in the originalDead Space 1. Fans ofDead Spacesimilarly praised the remake for incorporating gameplay and narrative elements fromDead Space 2and3.
Dead Space’s creator Glen Schofield even thanked Motive for how well the developer faithfully remadeDead Space 1for modern audiences. 2023’sDead Spacewent on to earn positive reviews and nominations for several awards, even selling well againstCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2andHogwarts Legacy,which also released in early 2023. However, despite the critical acclaim,EA was disappointed by theDead Spaceremake’s salesand reportedly shelved both aDead Space 2remake and a new original sequel to the remake. FollowingDead Space2023’s release, the franchise has remained relatively dormant once more, save for Isaac Clarke’s occasional appearance in other games such asFortniteandBattlefield 2042.
If futureSilent HillandResident Evilremakes and sequels continue to succeed critically and financially, that may cause EA to reconsider greenlighting aDead Space 2remake, a Motive original follow-up to 2023’sDead Space, or a completely brand-newDead Spacegame. However, single-player published EA games have been performing inconsistently following 2023’sDead Spacerelease.Star Wars Jedi: Survivorwas considered to be a commercial success, butTales of Kenzera: ZauandDragon Age: The Veilguardsignificantly underperformedEA’s expectations. Due to these results, EA may attempt to incorporate some kind of multiplayer or microtransaction functionality into future single-player horror titles to increase potential profits, similar to the microtransaction seen inDead Space 3.
One potential reason for 2023’sDead Spacecommercial underperformance could have been due to its release timing. Many recentSilent HillandResident Eviltitles have been released near the Halloween season instead of the less horror-centric time period of January. If EA were to developaDead Space 2remakeor a brand-newDead Spacegame, it should strive to release it near October, when audiences would be looking to play a new horror game. Although a new game would be an exciting development, aDead Space 2remake may be the best route for EA to take, sinceDead Space 2is often considered to be the best game in the original trilogy.
