UPDATE 8.15pm: EA has responded to a report claiming developer EA Motive had been in the early stages of production on a Dead Space 2 remake before the project was cancelled due to “lacklustre sales” of the first game.

In a statement provided to IGN, the publisher wrote, “We don’t normally comment on rumours but there is no validity to this story.” However, journalist Jeff Grubb - who originally broke the Dead Space 2 remake story - is sticking to his guns. Grubb shot back on social media, writing, “I give you my permission to believe EA if you want, but whenever a company says ‘that isn’t true’ but they don’t specify which part of the story they are talking about, well… yeah.”

While EA’s statement certainly looks like a blanket denial, Grubb remained adament: “Dead Space 2 was definitely being planned. It had a code name. And they aren’t making it now.”