Dead Space’s UK physical launch week sales less than half of Callisto Protocol’s

Physical sales of Electronic Arts’ Dead Space remake during its launch week in the UK were less than half of The Callisto Protocol’s.

That’s according to data published by GamesIndustry.biz, which notes there are several caveats that should be considered when comparing the performances of the two horror games.

The Callisto Protocol, which is the brainchild of Dead Space creator and Striking Distance CEO Glen Schofield, was released in December during the busy holiday shopping season and had an average selling price of £47 compared to Dead Space’s £63.

Dead Space was only released for three platforms (PS5, Xbox Series X/S), while The Callisto Protocol was released for five as it’s also available for PS4 and Xbox One.

And in a notable digital promotion, players who pre-ordered Dead Space via Steam received a free copy of Dead Space 2 upon release.

Stronger comparisons between the performances of the games will be able to be drawn once digital sales data is also made available.

It was recently claimed that The Callisto Protocol hadn’t met publisher Krafton’s sales expectations, with the game failing to recoup a reported $162 million budget, although this hasn’t been officially confirmed.

Dead Space comfortably topped last week’s UK physical software sales chart, with 80% of sales on PS5 and the remainder on Xbox.

FIFA 23 and God of War Ragnarök were non-movers at No.2 and No.3 on the chart respectively, followed by last week’s other big new release, Square Enix’s PS5 console exclusive Forspoken.

Further reading

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“The Dead Space remake remains faithful enough to appeal to fans of the original, while modernising what’s needed to ensure those new to it don’t feel like they’re playing a 15-year-old game,” according to VGC’s 4/5 star Dead Space review.

“Its impact may be lessened slightly these days – something that’s almost unavoidable given that the source material has been iterated on for a decade and a half – but from its engaging intro crash sequence to its controversial (and slightly tweaked) ending, it’s still a thrilling journey through madness.”

VGC’s 3/5 The Callisto Protocol review called the game “a solid, but safe Dead Space successor” which is lacking in originality but delivers strong strategic combat.