Antony Johnston, writer behind the worlds of Dead Space and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is announcing his project’s existence ahead of the anticipated PlayStation 5 reveal event on June 11, 2020.
In a tweet, he stated audiences should tune into the live stream to see his project revealed since it started development two years ago. Before, Johnston was credited for penning much of Isaac Clarke’s unlucky adventures against the Necromorphs in the original 2008 Dead Space. He also continued to write much of the series in its earlier USG Ishimura/Sprawl settings with Dead Space: Extraction, Ignition and its 2011 mobile game.
Johnston also crafted the nemesis mechanic and script for 2014’s Shadow of Mordor and the original graphic novel The Coldest City – serving as the basis for Atomic Blonde starring Charlize Theron and James McAvoy. His next project, still kept in secrecy, is likely attached to a major studio while its world was written by Johnston.
Unfortunately for Dead Space fans, the series was put on ice after its core developer Visceral Games was closed. Part of the survival-horror series was secured by Electronic Arts while fans have requested a return to the franchise since Dead Space 3 was released in 2013. The game had moved away from its scarier roots in favour of a human-driven action-adventure tone and added a seamless co-op feature. No news of a major sequel or media were released while Visceral’s staff were absorbed with EA and other affiliate studios.
Visceral’s last major game produced was Battlefield Hardline in 2015 while it was supposedly working on a Star Wars IP codenamed “Project Ragtag.”
Johnston’s next game credit will go towards a game being announced as part of Sony’s next generation console. Its Future of Gaming reveal is set for June 11 at 1:00PM PDT and 4:00 PM EST.