Aliens: Colonial Marines - Development

Development

A previous game titled Aliens: Colonial Marines was developed by Check Six Games and was to be published by Fox Interactive and Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 2 in 2001, but was cancelled before its release. A more traditional first-person shooter, it shared the same subject matter and setting as the upcoming Gearbox-developed game. Its story was to be set between the events of Aliens and Alien 3, concerning a rescue team of Colonial Marines searching for the Sulaco. Despite the similarities in gameplay and story, however, Gearbox has claimed that their upcoming game is unrelated to this early version.

On December 11, 2006, Sega announced they had purchased the electronic rights to the Alien franchise from 20th Century Fox. On December 15, Gearbox Software and Sega announced that they were working on a completely new game based on the franchise. In February 2008 the game's title was officially announced as Aliens: Colonial Marines and it was featured as the cover story of Game Informer magazine.

The development team took great pains to recreate the vehicles and settings of the films by using original set designs to recreate the exterior and interior of the Sulaco and LV-426. Concept artist Syd Mead, who had worked on Aliens, was hired to design areas of the Sulaco that did not appear in the film but would be used in the game.

A Shacknews article dated November 21, 2008, reported that the Aliens: Colonial Marines game had been delayed, supposedly because of layoffs at Gearbox Software. However, Gearbox president Randy Pitchford insisted that development on the game continues.

According to a Kotaku article, Sega said that their new Aliens vs. Predator game is to be released in early 2010 would be the first of their Aliens games to be released, meaning that Aliens: Colonial Marines will be sometime afterwards.

At the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Gearbox showed five new screenshots and stated that the game remains a priority for them.

In the beginning of June 2011, Gearbox unveiled a teaser trailer and officially announced that Colonial Marines would be presented on E3 2011 and that the game is expected to be released in spring 2012.

On January 26, 2012, Sega announced that it had decided to delay the game yet again, pushing it to a fall 2012 release date. In addition, Gearbox Software also announced that they would be releasing a new trailer. On May 21, 2012, Gearbox Software has announced a February 12, 2013 launch for Aliens: Colonial Marines on PS3, 360 and PC with Wii U version announcement "at a later time".

Read more about this topic:  Aliens: Colonial Marines

Famous quotes containing the word development:

    The work of adult life is not easy. As in childhood, each step presents not only new tasks of development but requires a letting go of the techniques that worked before. With each passage some magic must be given up, some cherished illusion of safety and comfortably familiar sense of self must be cast off, to allow for the greater expansion of our distinctiveness.
    Gail Sheehy (20th century)

    John B. Watson, the most influential child-rearing expert [of the 1920s], warned that doting mothers could retard the development of children,... Demonstrations of affection were therefore limited. “If you must, kiss them once on the forehead when they say goodnight. Shake hands with them in the morning.”
    Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)

    I have an intense personal interest in making the use of American capital in the development of China an instrument for the promotion of the welfare of China, and an increase in her material prosperity without entanglements or creating embarrassment affecting the growth of her independent political power, and the preservation of her territorial integrity.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)