It is a prequel to the 2008 survival horror video game of the same name, detailing the five weeks leading up to the destruction of a space colony on the planet Aegis VII following the discovery of an artifact called the Marker.

The comic series began production during development of the video game as part of Electronic Art's multimedia expansion of the plot referred to by staff as "IP cubed".

While each part of the media expansion was handled by different people, the game's development team acted as the overall controller, ensuring continuity between each property.

[5][9] He was first attracted to the project due to its focus on psychological horror over gore, comparing it to his favorite video game Silent Hill.

Both properties were separate so people could enjoy them independently, though the wider backstory elements were present across all media to establish continuity.

[3] As with 30 Days of Night, he used color coding for different scenes and moods; the planet surface used blue-grey, while the colony interior used warmer shades.

Its dark tone partially arose from its horror roots, as more traditional comic artwork—using high lighting and color use—would lessen that aspect.

The story begins during the second year of an illegal mining operation on the planet Aegis VII funded by the Unitology religious movement.

The colonists discover a monolith-like artifact on Aegis VII they identify as a Marker, an object sacred to the Unitologists' beliefs.

[20][21][22] The comic opens with a video log from Sergeant Abraham Neumann of the colony's P-SEC security, advising anyone still alive to nuke the planet.

[23] While the colony was previously stable, the Marker's discovery prompts a wave of unusual incidents; beginning first as prevalent insomnia and hallucinations, many colonists then display symptoms of paranoia and become murderously violent.

Between its discovery and the Ishimura's arrival, the situation deteriorates further; Sciarello treats a growing and increasingly severe outbreak of hysteria and paranoia on the colony, technician Cameron finds an unusual organic matter growing in the vent system, and one of the Marker security team Natalia Deshyanov kills a crewmember and suffers a complete breakdown.

Things seem to calm down, but the colonists' mental state further deteriorates and Cameron continues to find organic material in greater quantities.

The story ends with Neumann concluding his video log; unhinged by recent events, he walks away from the camera telling whoever finds it not to look for him.

[31] In his review of Dead Space: Extraction, The Daily Telegraph's Nick Cowen said the motion comic version was "narrated with some fantastic voice-acting".

[16] In a similar article for PopMatters, David Main was far less positive, calling Johnston's narrative difficult to follow and faulting Templesmith's art as making all characters alike and being too cartoon-like for the levels of violence portrayed.