In an interview with Eurogamer, SEGA West CEO Mike Hayes said that they are not currently considering a sequel to Aliens vs. Predator.

“[AVP] was so successful that naturally you would think you want to do a sequel,” Hayes reasoned. “But we already had Aliens: Colonial Marines in the pipeline at Gearbox.” “The Aliens universe is so interesting that there are different things that we can do before we go back to an idea of sequelisation,” Hayes added. “There’s a lot more we can do first before we would consider doing a sequel on AVP.”

Rebellion expressed interest in doing a sequel after the game had been released but of course, Sega then dropped support for the game only a few months after its release.

Sega has just announced the new Aliens vs Predator DLC! Like the previous DLC, this pack consists of 4 maps – 2 Survivor and 2 multiplayer:

“The Bughunt Map Pack contains two new multiplayer maps for the six different competitive online modes; Deathmatch, Predator Hunt, Infestation, Species Deathmatch, Mixed Species Deathmatch and Domination, as well as two new maps for the “Survival” mode in which a team of up to four Marines fight to survive against the increasing horde of Aliens. For the first time, these maps will include environmental hazards and new weather effects, detailed descriptions of these maps are available on www.sega.co.uk/avp.

You have “Crash Site”, “Furious”, “Tempest” and “Monument” – all of which provide different challenges. The “Bughunt Map Pack” will be available on 7th July for €5.99/ £4.79/ AUS$9.95 / 560 Microsoft Points.”

Sega have also released a trailer for the new content. For more details descriptions of the maps and some pictures, check out the official Sega announcement. Thanks to Undel for the news.

I recently got chance to talk to Mark Rutherford, the composer of the latest Aliens vs Predator game:

“This is my first experience with an AvP game. I consider my lack of experience within the game genre to be an advantage, I treat the game like a kind of massive interactive movie. This, along with the inspiration I got from talking to the guy’s at Rebellion, meant that the process was seamless and I felt very at home doing it.”

Click here for the whole interview. I’d like to thank Mark for taking the time out of his busy schedule to chat with us. Mark has quite a few tracks from the soundtrack on his website for you to listen to.

Rebellion has just released their fourth patch for the PC edition of the game. Here are a few examples of the updates:

• Fix for a Skybox rendering problem in D3D11 build on Nvidia Fermi cards
• Various small D3D11 optimisations
• Fixed rare bug where clients would get stuck on the loading screen.
• Fix clients not seeing the ‘custom match’ flag updating in the ‘Browse’ screen when the dedicated server was changing settings after initially hosting a match without changing any variables

You can find the full list over Steam. The console editions have also received the first of the patch updates. Keep an eye out for more updates from Rebellion.

Over the past month or so I’ve slowly been working on some updates to our Aliens vs Predator section. I have uploaded:

• Multiplayer Game Modes
• Multiplayer Skins
• Swarm Map Pack Review

All three sections are online and ready for your browsing pleasure.

Most of you should know of Alien Loves Predator. It is the community’s most popular and funniest webcomic and its creator, Bernie Hou, recently got in touch with us regarding a review of Aliens vs Predator he wrote:

“That said, as a rabid fan of the Alien and Predator franchises and changing my underwear, I can’t get enough of Sega/Rebellion’s new “Aliens vs. Predator” game (PS3, Xbox 360, PC). If you’re looking for old school first-person shooter action with the delicious twist of playing as the two baddest killer space monsters in the galaxy, “AvP” is the game for you.”

It goes without saying but he puts his own “Bernie” twist on the review and there are some pretty funny pictures in there. Well worth a read and while you’re at it, you should check out Alien Loves Predator. You won’t regret it.

Over the last day, Sega has been releasing the first DLC pack, Swarm Map Pack, over the various platforms. All platforms should now have the pack so if you only got the standard edition, now is your chance to get those extra 4 maps. As well as that, the latest patch for the PC has been released. A few of the fixes are:

• In multiplayer damage from the Predator’s Smart Disc has been reduced, unless it’s a headshot.
• In multiplayer minor hits from the Predator’s Plasma Caster bolts will no longer knock down enemies.
• When joining a dedicated server on which a round is in-progress you now have a limited time to choose your species/team and skin before entering the game, if the game mode and server settings allow this.

For the entire list of fixes, you can check out our forums. I’d like to thank Rebellion and Sega for continuing to support the game. Watch out for the console patches soon. Thanks to Prosessori.

Rebellion have released 2 patches for the PC since release. They’ve just recently announced that the 3rd is not far off and that the console versions will also be receiving some fine-tuning:

“Following updates to the PC, including integration of a Dedicated Server client, the company stated: “We are aware of and grateful to the community for communicating with us and helping this process along. The updates are going through rigorous QA and we hope to have them available publicly very soon.”

You can read the full statement released by Sega over on their forums. Thanks to Rebellion’s Eric for the news.

Sega has just announced details of their first DLC pack out for AvP:

“Two new Multiplayer maps for six different online modes (Deathmatch, Predator Hunt, Infestation, Species Deathmatch, Mixed Species Deathmatch and Domination):

• Docks: The caustic alkali waters of BG-386 put an end to Weyland-Yutani’s planned shipping activities.
• Machine: As well as processing exotic ores, the BG-386 Refinery provided electrical power to the colonists at Freya’s Prospect.

Two new Survivor maps in which up to four Marines battle to stay alive against increasing swarms of Aliens:

• Outpost: The site of the original Weyland-Yutani colony on BG-386 was abandoned, and soon reclaimed by the planet’s voracious jungle plant life.

• Hive: Deep in the heart of the Freya’s Prospect Refinery lays the Xenomorph Hive.

The “Swarm Map Pack” will be available on 18 March for €5.99/ £4.79/ 560 Microsoft Points.”

The pack, called Swam Map Pack, are the four levels released with the Survivor and Hunter editions of the game.

Sega have just announced the release of some custom AvP avatars for the PlayStation gamers:

“I’m very pleased to announce that from tomorrow, and for a limited time only, full outfits from Aliens vs Predator will be available in the European PlayStation Home Thread Store on the PlayStation 3. These costumes, a male and female version for each species in the game, are offered as complete packages, but also available to download separately. These downloads are accessible for a limited time, and will be taken out of the Thread Store on the 31st of March.”

Thanks to Sega for letting us know. I’m currently awaiting information on whether any similar costumes will be released for the Xbox 360.  Check out Sega’s Flickr for more pictures.