The Dead Space series is not dead, and is in fact an "important" IP for publisher Electronic Arts, Visceral Games general manager Steve Papoutsis says. Speaking with Kotaku UK, Papoutsis said there is a lot of love for the series at EA.

"Is Dead Space dead? Not for me it's not," he said. "I love it, the team at Visceral loves it."

After working on the Dead Space franchise for seven years, Papoutsis said moving on to a new project--Battlefield Hardline--was a "good break for us to try something different."

All the same, Papoutsis made it clear that the Dead Space series is an essential brand to EA, and even teased that he'd like to see it return for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 some day.

"There's a lot of passion about that franchise, not just from me but from others in the company," he said. "So I think it's an IP that's important for the company. You never know where it's going to go... I'd definitely be excited about what it would be like on this [generation of consoles]."

In June, EA Studios executive vice president Patrick Söderlund said the Dead Space series could return, but only if EA is able to come up with an idea that retains the core spirit of the franchise and the development team is enthusiastic about it.

The most recent Dead Space game was 2013's Dead Space 3, which failed to meet commercial expectations for EA. It was later reported that the Dead Space series was canceled outright, though EA swiftly refuted this claim, going on to say that the franchise is a "great brand."

What would you like to see from a potential Dead Space 4? Let us know in the comments below!