New York Times bestselling author andDead Space 1writer Antony Johnston callsDead Space 3‘s focus on action “a necessary evil in order to broaden the fan base,” in an interview withNow Gamer.
This isn’t the first time Johnston shared his disagreements over the change of direction. In July, he told StickTwiddlers: “I think it’s a shame they have to make these changes in order to sell more copies. But that’s the reality of making mega-budget games these days, and I have a lot of love and respect for the [Dead Space] team at Visceral.”
AfterDead Space 1, Johnston left to work onBinary DomainandZombiU. In the interview, he comes across as a very level-headed guy that is understanding of the series’ new direction, even if he doesn’t agree with it.
“I’m personally a big fan of old-school survival horror,” Johnston said, “and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to work onDead Space. So, the greater emphasis on big action in the sequels means they’re not really for me.”
If something seems missing from theDead Spaceseries, part of it might be Johnston, a talented writer that gets the genre.
“Developers and publishers need to come to terms with [survival horror] never being a mass thing, like books and films, it’s a niche. But there’s still profit to be had, and they should set expectations accordingly.”
