Dead Space's Isaac Clarke shows up as $35 skin in new Skate game

Dead Space is back...but not in the way you'd hoped - EA's new Skate game has a cross-over Isaac Clarke cosmetic pack that costs more than an indie game.

Dead Space's Isaac Clarke shows up as $35 skin in new Skate game
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Senior Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: Dead Space's iconic protagonist Isaac Clarke appears as a costly paid skin in EA's free-to-play Skate game, sparking fan backlash due to expensive microtransactions requiring a minimum $35 spend. This highlights EA's ongoing strategy of monetizing cosmetic content, contributing to their projected $8 billion revenue this fiscal year.

Dead Space has made a comeback, but gamers aren't happy about it.

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Dead Space is a cult classic franchise beholden to many. It's been dormant for a while: EA's refusal to greenlight a new sequel led original series creator Glen Schofield to make a spiritual successor, The Callisto Protocol, which was ironically hamstrung by EA's own Dead Space remaster. So when Dead Space shows up anywhere, it can be a big deal for fans.

The franchise has popped up in an unlikely location: EA's new Skate game. Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke has been shoehorned into the new free-to-play Skate game as a paid skin. It's not just Skate using Clarke's likeness that has disgruntled fans, but the game's microtransaction conversion scheme means players will pay $35 minimum for the cosmetic bundle.

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The Isaac Clarke bundle costs 3350 San Van bucks. The problem is that the denominations are skewed, as they almost always are in this case, to make gamers purchase multiple packs in order to afford an in-game bundle.

Without an EA Play membership, the minimum possible spend to acquire the Isaac Clarke bundle is $35 (with EA Play, it's $31.50).

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You can buy 2800 SV bucks for $25, and then tack on another 500 SV for $5 more. That's 3300 SV bucks for a total of $30.

The Isaac Clarke bundle is 3350, so you're 50 SV bucks short in that case. The minimum denomination is $5 for 500 SV bucks, so you'll have to pay a whole $5 more just for a measly extra 50 SV bucks to afford the bundle.

The entire exercise is yet another example of EA's microtransaction-driven business model, which emphasizes online-only games that make money from cosmetic vanity purchases in a rotating storefront lineup. The plan is working well, and EA expects to make a record-breaking $8 billion revenue this fiscal year.