A new Alien game is skulking in the dark, early stages of development, according to the videogames division of Fox. Details about the xenomorph’s next appearance are still hidden in the vents but if we give the flamethrower of journalism a little puff of the trigger here… Ah yes, it’s a shooter. A little more juice maybe… Aha, it’s being made by the relatively young development house Cold Iron Studios, and will “explore areas of the universe that fans haven’t got to experience.” Cool. All right, just a bit more on the gas… oh no that’s too much you’d better stop. I said TOO MUCH JOURNALISM. ABORT. ABORT.
This info comes from a GamesIndusrty.biz interview with Aaron Loeb, head of FoxNext. The entertainment giant recently bought Cold Iron Studios, which was founded in 2015 by folks who worked mainly on MMOs such as City of Heroes and Star Trek Online, and has given them the eel-tongued project to work on.
“Cold Iron adds a whole dimension of game development and play to our arsenal: long play-session MMOs targeted to PC and console gamers,” said Loeb. “The kinds of games Cold Iron develops will enable us to deeply explore the worlds of our franchises, starting with the Alien universe.”
Another Alien game seemed inevitable, it being a beloved franchise and all, not to mention how well the stealthy horror of Alien: Isolation was received. It’ll be hard to follow Creative Assembly’s detailed homage but here’s hoping we avoid another Aliens: Colonial Marines situation. It definitely sounds like very early days, however, so you may as well forget you even read this story.
In related business news, 21st Century Fox is now owned by Disney. That’s good news for Alien likers, since (as many have pointed out) it now means that the xenomorph is a Disney princess.
18/01/2018 at 11:23 skyturnedred says:
All I did was pine after Alien: Crucible while reading this.
18/01/2018 at 12:38 Talahar says:
Yeah, same here. I would have loved to play a well made RPG in the Aliens universe, but alas, it was not to be. :(
18/01/2018 at 13:21 Anti-Skub says:
Alien: Crucible looked like a lot of things…but well made wasn’t one of them.
18/01/2018 at 15:53 Talahar says:
well, it was cancelled during development, so all we ever saw was unfinished. Could have been good in the end.
18/01/2018 at 11:24 Fersken says:
This brought up memories of the multiplayer from AvP2. I had so much fun stalking as an Alien. Pounce!.. and then wallcrawl up in some airduct. Singleplayer was good too.
If this is half as fun as that, I’m getting this.
18/01/2018 at 16:11 FesterSilently says:
Love, love, LOVE AvP2.
I *always* see so much love for AvP1, quite often to the detriment of AvP2, and I flatly don’t understand it.
I *enjoyed* AvP1, but I fucking LOVED AvP2…*especially* the multiplayer. SO many LAN weekends where the negighbors would wonder what all the blood-curdling screaming and full-throated cursing was all about…ah, good times. <3 :D
18/01/2018 at 11:26 svge says:
Still bummed that Colonial Marines wasn’t the answer to all my prayers of more Aliens.
18/01/2018 at 11:43 cpy says:
Damn clickbait title, I thought new Alien Shooter was in the works.
18/01/2018 at 22:29 Waltorious says:
I also thought of Alien Shooter.
18/01/2018 at 11:56 Carra says:
Alien: Isolation was an amazing game. One of the few shooters where shooting your way out isn’t the solution.
18/01/2018 at 12:28 WoodGuyThreepBrush says:
I’d hesitate to label Alien Isolation a ‘shooter’ tbh, more a first person stealth game descended distantly from the likes of Thief.
When they say this new game is a ‘shooter’ that makes me thing it’s going to be more along the lines of the AvP/Colonial Marines series games…
I’m a fan boy, so I have to be optimistic, but I wish it was something more like Alien Isolation – I loved that game :)
18/01/2018 at 13:22 Anti-Skub says:
It’s neither. It’s a survival horror.
18/01/2018 at 13:57 WoodGuyThreepBrush says:
Yeah, OK, I’d agree with that
19/01/2018 at 22:17 Dust and Cobwebs says:
Alien: Isolation is definitely more survival horror than shooter. That said, I could see a spiritual successor that was a shooter. It could be fun to play as one of those marines with the overpowered weapons of the later movies. Tutorial level, you’re just shooting along, slaughtering all the xenomorphs… First real level, an alien pulls a clever trick and takes out a squadmate… Ammo starts running low… By an hour in, you’re on your own and desperately hoping to find another ammo cache. And then you do, but you’re afraid to use it because god knows how many monsters are going to hear the gunfire…
That could be a good game. I’m afraid they’re going to miss what made A:I special though and just make another generic shooter. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.
18/01/2018 at 12:41 WoodGuyThreepBrush says:
As a fanboi here, I’m simultaneously experiencing utter joy at a new Alien game, extreme apprehension that it might be crap, and total dismay that they’ve given the contract to a relatively unproven* developer
Anyone know a good therapist?
*I hope that’s fair, neither city of heroes or star trek ever really appeared on my radar, or any “best games” lists that I might have read
18/01/2018 at 13:44 GameOverMan says:
“The kinds of games Cold Iron develops will enable us to deeply explore the worlds of our franchises, starting with the Alien universe.”
It doesn’t look good. Perhaps they are planning an Alien-themed Destiny 2.
18/01/2018 at 14:07 WoodGuyThreepBrush says:
Quite, now balance that out with the double-think “omg omg new Alien game wooooo” and you’ll see my predicament :)
19/01/2018 at 05:32 Rindan says:
This is my greatest fear. Look, you could have an AMAZING MMO Alien game. An Arma 3 style Alien game where you multiplayer in with 5, 10, 50, or 100 other marines to be attacked by 100 aliens or whatever sounds AWESOME.
Do you know what sounds fucking awful? Alien that is just Destiny reskinned and tweaked. I don’t want any fucking loot boxes, +3% upgrades, randomly generated loot, or any random shit like that. I want standard issue marine rifle, sniper rifle, flame thrower, and crap like that, with each one having been built on a grim-dark future assembly line. No god leveling, skills, or any of that crap. Grim-dark Alien shooty shoot shoot.
I have no real hope.
20/01/2018 at 02:53 ZeroWaitState says:
You just say that because you haven’t met the Shopkeeper Alien who will take your crystals, command points, credit chits, and star cards and provide you with supply crates full of potentially devastating weapon upgrades and skin unlocks.
18/01/2018 at 18:55 Vodka, Crisps, Plutonium says:
You can surely expect xeno egg-themed loot crates at some stage of its development.
18/01/2018 at 13:19 Alberto says:
The possibilities! Such an immersive universe…
Legendary facehuggers jumping in sparks from lootalieneggs!
Alien dancing emotes wearing special halloween hats (limited timed event) that boost xp!
OP flamethrowers with Monster drink logos!
18/01/2018 at 14:08 Turkey says:
I’m so excited that I’ve already started planning my character. I think I’m going to make a colonial marine.
18/01/2018 at 13:45 Viroso says:
You’ll play as an Alien that has been successfully weaponized by Weyland corp. At first you’ll be following orders but inevitably turn against your masters. Or it’ll be an always online single player game with microtransactions where you shoot Aliens dead for loot.
18/01/2018 at 14:37 Fitzmogwai says:
Stop your grinnin’ and drop your linen!
18/01/2018 at 14:45 Vilos Cohaagen says:
Ug. No. I loved Alien Isolation though even as I played it I realised it was a unique aberration of an Alien game in that it was made with love for the original movie and was not just a cash in on the increasingly dead horse like of Aliens. I grew up with those films though I am no longer their audience apparently.
18/01/2018 at 15:07 noxohimoy says:
I need another Alien Isolation
18/01/2018 at 16:50 WoodGuyThreepBrush says:
I agree on the proviso that they add and build on the formula – the game got quite samey after 40 odd hours and required the story to carry it. However, imo it totally did succeed in carrying it, so I need a new game to find out what happens to AR
18/01/2018 at 15:20 dethtoll says:
oh no
18/01/2018 at 15:34 JB says:
Love the alt-text. Dubious about the game, sadly. But we’ll see in time.