Riccitiello says it would take 'Dead Space 3' for franchise to produce a 5-million seller

EA CEO John Riccitiello believes that the Dead Space franchise could reach the "five million unit cadence" with "Dead Space 3," though he didn't outright confirm the next sequel. Riccitiello was listing off the company's "strong, growing franchises" at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, reports CVG, when he footnoted Dead Space as a franchise close to becoming one of EA's biggest. After rifling off names like Madden, FIFA and Need for Speed, the exec said, "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."

EA has already invested quite a lot in Dead Space, making it an expansive, transmedia property (spanning animated films, comics and a novel). That commitment seemingly paid off with the release of Dead Space 2 last month. The sequel trumped the first game's launch sales "2-to-1," according to EA.

Now, if only there was room in EA's purse to support just one more franchise.