Last month saw the release of Dead Space 2, and after finishing and reviewing it, Game Rant took to speculating what the future would hold for Isaac Clarke in Dead Space 3. If, of course, there was to be a Dead Space 3.

It appears that if EA’s head honcho John Riccitiello has anything to say about it (he does), then there will indeed be a third entry in the horror shooter franchise, one that will have a ton of pressure placed upon it.

At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Riccitiello listed some of the strong and growing franchises that exist under the Electronic Arts banner — games that he hopes to see developed into more and more sequels.

Though he named some of EA’s most popular, banner series, Dead Space was left off that list and instead named as a title that still needs to prove itself, along with Bioware’s upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

“Right now we’ve got strong, growing franchises including Madden, FIFA… Need for Speed, Medal of Honor and Battlefield – I include them as one because we’re unlikely to ship them in any one year at the same time…[There's also] Mass Effect… Dragon Age… and the one that’s sort of not proven that’s coming later in our fiscal year, Star Wars [The Old Republic]…That excludes Dead Space because I think it will probably take Dead Space 3 before we get into that five million unit cadence versus say three, four.”

While, as Riccitiello indicated, Dead Space 2 has enjoyed success that any major publisher would be proud of, it clearly hasn’t reached the status that EA was hoping for it. Both developer Visceral and EA have expressed interest in keeping the series going, leaving the thought of a Dead Space 3 a no brainer.

It is still interesting to consider that Dead Space, a franchise that many gamers hope to see continue for years to come, has not entered that realm of success that EA envisions for all of its properties.

Either way, Dead Space has proven itself to be a winner among the fans, and Visceral Games has shown that it can improve upon its previous work while still delivering the namesake qualities that gamers hope to find in each iteration. Let us hope that Dead Space 3 performs well enough to warrant a “strong franchise” tag.

Do you consider Dead Space to be one of EA’s strong and growing franchises? Do you think that Dead Space 3 will be as successful as its predecessor?