EA COO accuses website of fabricating Dead Space rumor [UPDATE]

Yesterday we reported that it was rumored that Electronic Arts canceled Dead Space 4 after the publisher discovered poor sales of Dead Space 3. However, it turned out to be false, and the yet-to-be-announced game hasn't been canceled, according to EA officials. Furthermore, EA's COO Peter Moore has accused a video game website for fabricating the rumor in the first place.

The website in question is VideoGamer, who originally reported the rumor and said that they heard from sources familiar with the matter that Electronic Arts canceled Dead Space 4. However, later that day we received word that Electronic Arts did not, in fact, cancel anything, and the rumors were greatly exaggerated.

Moore took to the comments on GamesIndustry.biz to clarify some things about the rumor, saying that the story was a "standard, shoddy website journalism recipe, born out of a desperate need to increase click-thru rates to support advertising revenue." Obviously, it seems Moore wasn't too happy about the whole situation.

Moore continued by describing said recipe, which consists of fabricating "a story using an 'unnamed source', post it first thing in the morning, add the letters" EA" to the story (oh, and link it to micro-transactions – always a fan favourite) and then stand back and enjoy the vitriol which you turn into revenue. Rinse and repeat..." VideoGamer has said that they'll be addressing the situation later today.

UPDATE: VideoGamer as released a statement on their Dead Space 4 rumor, and it seems they still stand behind the rumor and their "trusted source." Overall, it seems there was some miscommunication with EA's UK and US PR teams as far as reporting on the rumor, but VideoGamer says that they "ran the story in good faith, taking the necessary steps with both EA and [VideoGamer's] source to ensure that the story was as accurate, fair, and well-represented as possible."

Obviously, we post about rumors here on SlashGear, but as with every rumor, no matter how obvious or true it may be, we always take it with a grain of salt until we hear official word from the company that's involved, and so should you.

[via Kotaku]