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EA is denying a report that went public over the weekend claiming that the money hungry publisher of the survival horror series Dead Space not only ceased production on Dead Space 4, but also canned the whole entire series due to sluggish sales of Dead Space 3.The report being pushed around the internet began on online gaming news website, VideoGamer.com where they claimed a credible source spoke directly to them stating that Dead Space 4 was in pre-production with Visceral Games' Montreal. However, plans changed after EA made a visit to the small studio this past February and it was announced that pre-production on Dead Space 4 was to be stopped. To further complicate matters, EA closed Visceral Games' Montreal later in February on February 21st due to "restructuring". EA's Peter Moore fired back at this report on GamesIndustry, calling the report "shoddy website journalism". "Standard, shoddy website journalism recipe, born out of a desperate need to increase click-thru rates to support advertising revenue. Fabricate a story using an 'unnamed source,' post it first thing in the morning, add the letters 'EA' to the story (oh, and link it to micro-transactions - always a fan favourite) and then stand back and enjoy the vitriol which you turn into revenue. Rinse and repeat... My comments were fairly and squarely aimed at Videogamer. My issue is not the rejection of community feedback (we get that in bucketloads all day long and we learn from it in real time), rather it was the fabrication of a story in order to generate controversy and ultimately readership." VideoGamer.com is standing by their source and their report stating that EA had prior knowledge of their report going live and that EA UK even asked for them to wait an extra day before posting the report so that they could come up with a proper response with EA here stateside. EA released the usual "we do not comment on rumor or speculation". However, once the report went live, EA changed their minds and sent a message to GameSpot saying that the report was "patently false". According to Eurogamer, VideoGamer checked with EA UK to see what had happened and as it would turn out EA's Coporate Communications Teams sent the "patently false" statements out upon media request. VideoGamer.com has released their own statement since the backlash. "VideoGamer.com would never publish information from a source whose identity could not be verified, or that we do not believe to be accurate. We carried out internal checks to verify the validity of the comments made by our source - and while we have a duty of care to protect their identity - we stand by the comments made in the original story. We would also like to reiterate that we ran the story in good faith, taking the necessary steps with both EA and our source to ensure that the story was as accurate, fair, and well-represented as possible. We find it perplexing as to why EA changed its stance on its decision not to comment on rumours and speculation, especially given the opportunities that the publisher had to clarify the situation before and after VideoGamer.com published the story. We firmly deny any accusations of fabrication on our part." Interestingly enough, despite EA calling the report false there has yet to be one confirmed response that the Dead Space series has not been cancelled. Click here to view the article