This comparison is also why Dead Space’s marketing budget wasn’t something befitting a AAA game release. According to Bret Robbins, the game director of the original Dead Space game, EA decided to prioritize their marketing budget on Mirror’s Edge, given it reviewed better than Dead Space when it came to mock reviews, which publishers usually do to gauge the potential score — and commercial success — of in-development games.
In a video interview, Robbins explains how mock reviews pegged Dead Space as a game that would get 70-ish review scores, while Mirror’s Edge was estimated to get scores of 90.
They actually cut our marketing budget…and Mirror’s Edge got it all. We were releasing about the same time, and they were trying to figure out the budget for that launch window. And they did all these internal tests or whatever. Like Metacritic analysis, like mock scores, and they had Mirror’s Edge at a 90 and Dead Space at 70. They had Dead Space at a 7u and this is internally and this is right before, like, a couple of months before we ship. They weren’t looking at an unfinished game; we were almost done, and they thought we were going to be like a 72, and they slashed our marketing budget, and they doubled down on Mirror’s Edge. Mirror’s Edge did well, it was like in the 80’s, but we ended up with a 90.
I actually think it may have helped us because we became …we’re such a good game that didn’t have a lot of marketing, telling everyone we’re going to be the best game ever people discovered it on their own. Sort of like, a word-of-mouth cult following that really quickly generated like, “have you heard this thing?”
It’s not like Mirror’s Edge turned out bad, as DICE’s parkour-focused game sprinted out of the gate with solid review scores due to its fast-paced movement that was unique at the time. Currently, Mirror’s Edge has a Metacritic score of 81, while the original Dead Space settled at an 89 average. Interestingly enough, the Dead Space remake has also been received well, as it’s currently at a 90 average on Metacritic.
Since its release in 2008, Mirror’s Edge received a sequel eight years later in June 2016. Dead Space, meanwhile, got a sequel in 2011, followed by the third and last mainline entry in the franchise in 2013. Motive Studio, an internal first-party development house, released the Dead Space remake last year to critical praise. No word yet on whether we’ll be seeing Dead Space.
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Source: https://mp1st.com/news/ea-cut-dead-spaces-marketing-budget-to-pour-into-mirrors-edge-due-to-mock-review-scores
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