Dead Space 2 PS3 PlayStation

Update: Further reporting from reliable Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reveals the Dead Space franchise is "officially on hold". While there's much discussion about whether a Dead Space 2 remake was considered or not, Schreier's sources claim that ideas were conceived for a new entry in the series, but they eventually fizzled out.

Original Article: Last year's excellent Dead Space remake was a real crowd-pleaser, even in a year full of high-quality releases. Naturally, fans and media have been speculating ever since that a remake of Dead Space 2 in the same vein could be in the offing, but conflicting reports from trusted sources make it hard to know what to believe anymore.

Giant Bomb journalist and industry insider Jeff Grub got the ball rolling on Wednesday (thanks, VGC) when he cited EA sources that claimed a Dead Space 2 remake had been planned but put aside: "They were working on Dead Space 2, and they are no longer working on it. It's on the shelf because the first game had lacklustre sales, which is how it was phrased to me."

IGN later published a piece penned by news director Kat Bailey that directly contradicted Grubb's claims, citing sources that say developer EA Motive never considered making a Dead Space 2 remake. An EA spokesperson told IGN: "We don't normally comment on rumours, but there is no validity to [Grubb's] story."

Now, to be entirely fair to Jeff, who has a solid track record and is someone we frequently cite here at Push Square, plans can change, and sources can be wrong. Grubb, however, doubled down on his stance on Twitter, stating: "I give you my permission to believe EA if you want, but whenever a company says 'that isn't true', but they don't specify which part of the story they are talking about, well, yeah. Dead Space 2 was definitely being planned. It had a code name. And they aren't making it now."

Bailey, meanwhile, maintains that the remake was never even considered, citing a lack of internal interest. IGN is, of course, another trusted news source whose reporting we often rely upon.

Who do you believe? Was a Dead Space 2 remake ever on the table at EA? Would you like to see the second game (this humble scribe's favourite) get the remake treatment? Let us know in the comments section below.

[source twitter.com, via ign.com]