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Fox moves away from Sega for next Alien game set in persistent universe

Jon Martindale
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Following a mixed bag of game releases based on the Alien property with publisher Sega, Fox has now announced a new game is under development in that universe at its own in-house development division, FoxNext. The core of the development team, however, will be made up of industry veterans from the recently acquired Cold Iron Studios.

Some of those longtime developers include former members of Cryptic Studios, of City of Heroes fame, like CEO Craig Zinkievich and studio art director Matt Highison. In its acquisition of the studio and their talents, FoxNext praised their craftsmanship and development talent and said they were the perfect team to “pursue our goal to build a multiplatform, multigenre portfolio of great games.” The first game they’re going to work on, though, is a new one in the Alien universe.

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“All of us at FoxNext Games are thrilled to be working with them as they create an action-packed persistent world, steeped in the mysteries of this beloved Alien universe.” president of studios at FoxNext Games, Aaron Loeb said in a statement, via Polygon.

Although fans may be a little concerned over the mention of “action-packed” in relation to an Alien game, it doesn’t sound like whatever’s being made will be another Aliens: Colonial Marines. Loeb mentioned the game would be set in a “persistent world” suggesting that we may be looking at something more akin to Destiny.  Considering the MMO pedigree of some of the Cold Iron Studios team too, it’s equally possible that a full-scale MMO could be in the works, though those kind of projects are far rarer today than they were in years gone by.

The most successful Alien game in recent years, and arguably ever depending on your preference for the Alien movies, was Alien: Isolation. The Creative Assembly development was the last game published by Sega in that universe and focused on a setting and style much more akin to the original 1979 Alien movie, where a single protagonist makes her way around a derelict space station, looking to survive against a single xenomorph.

Considering Cold Iron’s website is still advertising for concept artists, it seems likely that this game is still in the very early stages of development. In the meantime, Fox is also working on a brand-new Alien VR experience.

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