Following the announcement of the new mobile game Alien: Blackout, 20th Century Fox’s FoxNext has reached out to Variety to clarify their plans for the Amanda Ripley #ReadPlayWatch initiative:
“Alien: Blackout,” the mobile survival horror game revealed earlier this week, is part of a broader 20th Century Fox initiative to tell new stories in the franchise around Amanda Ripley. The initiative, branded around the “ReadWatchPlay” slogan, won’t include any other games, nor is it tied to a new feature film, 20th Century Fox’s FoxNext tells Variety.
“ReadWatchPlay is referring to individual entries for each one,” said TQ Jefferson, vice president of external development at FoxNext. “It’s exploring different elements of Amanda Ripley’s saga. ‘Alien: Blackout’ is a standalone premium mobile game. It’s not promotional for any other component of the Alien franchise.
While TQ Jefferson, vice president of external development at FoxNext said #ReadPlayWatch is referring to single media entries per word, we can’t help but think of both the upcoming Alien: Resistance comic as well as the Alien: Isolation novel, which feature Amanda Ripley.
Amanda Ripley
Many were disappointed in the revelation that the ‘Play’ part of the #ReadPlayWatch campaign referred to the soon to be released Alien: Blackout mobile game, rather than a AAA sequel to 2014’s Alien: Isolation, and took to Twitter and other social channels to voice (loudly) their displeasure at the news.
Some compared the announcement of Blackout to the blunder of Blizzard’s reveal of Diablo Immortal, a mobile title, to a room full of hardcore PC fans at BlizzCon in November of last year, but Jefferson doesn’t think that’s a fair comparison:
“I can see some people making a connection between ‘Diablo’ and this, but I think it’s a bit of a leap,” he said. “The ‘Diablo’ backlash was focused on free-to-play and mobile, our game is a premium mobile game where you pay one price and you’re done. It’s a contained experience.”
Jefferson said that he believes 20th Century Fox and the stewards of the Alien brand believe they are in touch with their fan base’s expectations and that they were aware that some wanted the news to be about “Isolation 2.”
“But it’s not that binary,” he said. “There are a lot of stories we can tell in the franchise. We can tell more stories about Amanda Ripley without it being an ‘Isolation’ game.”
He added that “Isolation 2” is not in development, but that the PC shooter from Cold Iron Studios is still in the works.
As you can see from the quote there, it seems there will be no microtransactions as part of the Alien: Blackout experience. This will certainly be welcome news to many, as microtransactions have become quite the controversial topic in the gaming industry recently, with some European countries outright banning certain forms of them.
While we are not surprised by the news that Alien: Isolation 2 is not in development, It’s still disappointing to hear it confirmed. It seems obvious that the marketing campaign led the wider gaming community to get their hopes up for a sequel. Hopefully with this backlash being what it is, Fox will see the reputation that Alien: Isolation has as a modern cult classic and consider a full-fledged follow-up.
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After seeing some reviews of the game, I'll probably give it a go.
That quote worried me that the game has no story and doesn't fit anywhere in any continuity. Like it's just a mini game where Amanda saves a crew and that's it.
The quote was:
"We wanted to reach out to clarify that Alien: Blackout is a standalone game that shares Amanda Ripley as a main character but is not related to or a sequel of Isolation."
Oh ok so no like comic book or novel tie ins that take place before this? I'm guessing this game was released to sort of herald in those?
I wonder if perhaps this takes place concurrently with Isolation somehow.
Couldn't find much info about it. Don't know if its legit.
First's pretty gud.
2 Animated Movies
You're talking handheld which is far different, Handheld is a portable game console. Mobile is games on the phone. Which is confusing for most and honestly even I had to get used to it.
Yes! Watched the Dead Space movie on Halloween night 2008 and played the game right after, great experience, loved the 2 animated movies also.
Then make a double AA game instead.
Companies care about the bottom line, if Isolation had made money they would have made more. Obviously it didn't.
Like I said, no one is going to spend a ton of money on a game if they dont think they are going to make money back.
Didnt Creative Assembly even say the sales were disappointing?
Of all things to weaponize, it would have to be that.
Individual Predators may die, but the running theme is intergalactic space hunters. "International thiefs-cum-terrorists" doesn't really have the same specificity to it.
The constant plots he's running into and foiling aren't?
I agree on the other franchises, but that's the odd one out.
I like Predator 2. For the longest time P1 and P2 was all there was. I loved it and Aliens most when I was a kid, because they were the most action heavy. My tastes might have changed somewhat, but the old feelings are still there.
P2 is like the cousin you grew up with but drifted apart from over time. You might not see them much anymore and now have important relationships with other people, but that doesn't mean family ain't still family.
You bet it did!
https://i.gifer.com/Qsuy.gif
Did this just happen?
My Man!
https://i.imgur.com/boyRiZp.gif
Yes, that's true. However, to have the same supposedly (regular guy) find himself in the same mess again and again is pushing the envelope way too far. Ripley 8 was pushing it way too far. Predator 2 and Predators handled themselves just fine without Dutch. I prefer a franchise "constant" be the event, not a character. But that's merely a personal preference.
Connor/Terminator
McFly and Tannen/Back to the Future
O'Connell/The Mummy
McClane/Die Hard
People can associate certain names with certain franchises. I'd rather they didn't. It makes no sense for the same characters to go up against the same dangerous situations over and over again. But, the studios will use the name to draw attention. It's a poor idea, and adds a factor of ridiculousness to the situation. But it's not about narrative, it's about money.
Yeah, I just finished Defiance and thought the same thing. I don't get the obsession with Ripley's family, aside from the specific character of Ellen Ripley.
I feel like I'm in a time loop.
Isolation was a success,
Sega were unrealistic about the measure of it's success.
Especially considering that incredibly shit IGN review.
ACM's reception the previous year, Isolation's expense
(Triple AAA) and niche genre.
Alien's about blue collar working Joes,
most of which- if their mother disappeared
in the vast expanse of space would grieve
and then move on. Guess we're lucky that
Amanda Ripley's the Hollywood
perseverance archetype.
It was contrived, but it was done well-
for it to happen repeatedly makes it more
absurd each time- Amanda knowing Zula
BEFORE either of their encounters makes
the universe very small indeed.
But I'm willing to give it a chance depending
upon how they handle Isolation's ending,
perhaps they pick up the Torrens and Ripley
is forced to watch and scream helplessly
as she begs them to not open the airlock.
(A rescue USCM ship perhaps) we'll see.
They're both portable gaming, but a 'handheld' platform connotes a dedicated gaming console which is handheld and portable. A 'mobile' platform is derived from mobile phone, which is not primarily a dedicated gaming console.
Also something to be said about the price-point difference. Aliens: Thanatos Encounter was $30.00 in 2001 (right?). Blackout is $5.
This article makes sense to me:
https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/Mobile-Games-vs-Portable-Consoles
Same source which proclaimed that Isolation sucked. *shrugs*
Mobile and handheld don't connote the same thing in the gaming community.
Man, Dead Space on my iPad was fantastic, real shame that EA removed that from the iOS App Store, one of those early great titles. EA only seems to put out garbage these days. Both AVP Evolution and the Predators mobile titles by Angry Mob Games were also removed.
Eh, I was concerned about that before Isolation but the game was great enough to sell me on the idea. With these new stories though, yeah that concern is back, that her story will just become over-saturated for her to simply be a mention at the start of the second film.
Better get working on it then.
No one is going to invest in a sequel if they dont think they can make money on it. If Isolation was a financial success we would probably already have a sequel by now.
I wasn't that contrived. Finding the black box was a bit contrived, but Amanda wanting to find out about her Mother's fate was a natural motive. To say otherwise is to denounce the persistence of memory.