Alien Isolation 2 Seems Unlikely Says Creative Assembly

[Darkness]

It seems even more unlikely that we’ll be getting a sequel to Alien Isolation any time soon. Back in May 2015, we heard that Alien Isolation had shifted 2.11 million copies in North America and Europe and Sega was reportedly disappointed with the sales performance. In a new interview with GameIndustry.biz, Creative Assembly’s studio director, Tim Heaton, discussed taking on Microsoft’s new Halo Wars game and the subject of Alien Isolation 2 popped up. Heaton explained a sequel is not out of the question but again, laments the so-so sales figures and says it would be hard to make a profit out of a sequel.

“2.1 million sales? It just didn’t break out…, Am I happy about that? I’m not happy about that, right. I think it did under-index in America. I think the genre just didn’t shine with an audience that would let us break out. 2 million is fine, right – let’s be clear – but we were unsure right till the very end about whether we would hit that break out space or not. Making a AAA console game is bloody hard. We absolutely sweated blood for that game, we came through, and felt really happy at the end of it. Alien: Isolation 2 is not out of the question, because we’re so proud of it and there’s possibly more to be said. But do we really want to be spending very significant amounts of money, and getting close to break-even or just about in the black? That’s not where Sega wants to be, when we have a brilliant portfolio of other games that do great business.”

Amanda Ripley

Well, it’s a damn shame if I say so myself. Alien Isolation had a positive reception from critics and an amazing reception from fans. I consider it to be the best game that has ever come out of these franchises and it still sold more than Aliens Colonial Marines and around the same, if not more, than Aliens vs Predator. The fundamental problem with Alien/AvP is they’re not the type of games that are going to sell millions of copies à la Call of Duty. Alien is very much a niche genre and is generally for fans of the movies. But alas it will be a long time before we see any new Alien games.

Thanks to ikarop for the news.

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[Xenomorphine]

A shame, but I felt that would be the case from the start. Games which make the player feel empowered, not victimised, are what seem to do the best business.

They really missed a trick by not including an playable Alien campaign.

[Razz]

Utter shame, Alien Isolation was easily my GOTY of last year and easily the best Alien/ Aliens based game I've played since AVP99/AVP 2.

I really hope Creative Assembly get another shot with this franchise at some point.

[RidgeTop]

Since when is over 2 million copies poor sales? Dead Space did about that and got two sequels. If there's one thing that irritates me immensely about today's producers it's their reluctance to fund anything that may not go mainstream, not everything should. It's stupid for game companies to think that their game is failure for not reaching the sales numbers of the some of the most popular games of all time. Resident Evil 6 failed because it tried too hard to imitate mainstream games rather than playing to its own audience.   

[PRJ_since1990]

I am actually ok with this. Alien Isolation is perfect in all senses. Exactly what we wanted and what the series needed. Why muddy the waters with a subpar sequel? We don't need more of the same thing, we would want something a bit different and who knows how it would end up? We don't want another Colonial Marines.

[jimbob30]

when is 2 million copies sold a bad thing.nothing wrong with that at all if anything cod only sells because kids play it.i enjoyed isolation and even avp 2010 sure colonial marines was garbage but the other 2 games were good what we really need is a 4 player co-op game that actually works well gearbox had their chance and ruined it hopefully there will be another avp game or aliens game at some point soon I also think rebellion deserve another go and sega need to loose the licence as they expect to much these days I also think the team that made gears of war would make an awesome aliens or avp game.the possibilities are endless but someone needs to listen to what fans would like in an aliens or avp game.give the fans what they would like =more sales does it not

[Darkness]

I wonder how much it cost compared to other games to make.

They really missed a trick by not including an playable Alien campaign.

Well, I disagree there. It's not an AvP game. It was about Amanda's story so playing as an alien would have been out of place and a big waste of development time.

To save money, they could have shaved a few hours off the end and we'd still be saying it was a damn fine game. Up until the hive and reactor bit.

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

Since when is over 2 million copies poor sales? Dead Space did about that and got two sequels.

Dead Space is an original IP though. All profit goes to the publisher and developer. With Alien: Isolation you need to factor in the licensing fee. I don't know what that was but it couldn't have been cheap.

I wonder how much it cost compared to other games to make.

Wasn't the game engine developed in-house? That might have pushed up the cost quite a bit for all the R&D.

[Mike]

Another game that was left open ended along time ago was Predator Concrete Jungle, never got a continuation of it. There was a new "Mother" Isabella Borgia was killed by Scarface and Lucretia became the new "Mother". We are so deserving of a solo Predator game for Ps4. I mean comon l Concrete Jungle came out in 2005. I'm up fog anything Alien and Predator AVP games but a new Predator game would be really nice I think.

[Mr. Clemens]

Sad news, but the original was such a perfect experience that I'm happy enough just with that.

[robbritton]

Two things. One, damn you again Gearbox for creating an environment where more people where afraid to take a punt on a new Alien game. Creative Assembly created a wonder and it's such a shame that it looks likely to be an anomaly rather than a revolution. Two, maybe there's something to learn from this for future Alien games - PLEASE DON'T END ON A CLIFFHANGER. That's three in a row that'll sit unresolved.

But man is it sad. What a world where two million sales is a bad job.

[Doggo33]

I am glad as frankly I hate the way 'Alien: Isolation' turned out. The first two thirds of the game were brilliant. Then it just became the thing it was designed to not be in terms of excess (I'm not saying exactly for spoiler sakes) - the subtlety just disappeared. And then it ended on such a sequel promoting note.

[Xenomorphine]

Well, I disagree there. It's not an AvP game. It was about Amanda's story so playing as an alien would have been out of place and a big waste of development time.

To save money, they could have shaved a few hours off the end and we'd still be saying it was a damn fine game. Up until the hive and reactor bit.

Of course it wasn't an AVP game. But it was an 'Alien' game and that means it could have easily had one campaign from Amanda's point of view and the other from an Alien's - even if it was just a single DLC mission (which seemed to be what most players were actually expecting would happen).

Again, an experience where you have no choice but to be almost constantly victimised will only have a limited ceiling of appeal. If there had been a way to play as the Alien, itself, the sales could easily have doubled, if not tripled. It put a lot of people off - myself, included.

And, honestly, you identify precisely why that should have really been included: The game gets to a certain point and then it feels like it's filler for filler's sake. They could just as easily have replaced that with playing as the Alien and it would have been just as lengthy, but infinitely more appealing.

Since when is over 2 million copies poor sales? Dead Space did about that and got two sequels.

Dead Space is an original IP though. All profit goes to the publisher and developer. With Alien: Isolation you need to factor in the licensing fee. I don't know what that was but it couldn't have been cheap.

I wonder how much it cost compared to other games to make.

Wasn't the game engine developed in-house? That might have pushed up the cost quite a bit for all the R&D.

That's it, really. Throw in a fairly impressive advertising campaign (there were some CGI scenes which were made purely for adverts) and there must have been a fair amount spent on marketing it.

These days, a production need to not only make its own budget back, but all of the money spent on marketing, too.

[Ulfer]

I really hope this game will have a successor, even if it is in 10 years. There is still potential here and although Alien Isolation is great it has not depleted all the possibilities. In my mind, the perfect alien game for me would be an hybrid : Alien Isolation with RPG elements (at least), mystery and exploration (it was cool to be able to go inside the Derelict in AI but come on...). Ok, I ask too much.  (Although in another domain I hope that Alien : Paradise Lost will be much more convincing than Prometheus in what regards exploration and mysteries...).

[Darkness]

Of course it wasn't an AVP game. But it was an 'Alien' game and that means it could have easily had one campaign from Amanda's point of view and the other from an Alien's - even if it was just a single DLC mission (which seemed to be what most players were actually expecting would happen).

You can't build a story like this with half of it as Amanda and half as the alien. The alien can't die for starters. The gameplay mechanics would be completely different. If they'd have included a couple of chapters of it, I'd guarantee reviewers would be bitching that it was out of place. Sure, I guess DLC was possible but you're still talking about changing the whole gameplay. I must admit I was expecting story DLC from a different characters point of view. It was sadly a missed opportunity.

Again, an experience where you have no choice but to be almost constantly victimised will only have a limited ceiling of appeal.

You're not completely hounded by the alien all the time. There's plenty of long moments where it doesn't appear at all. They do mix things up with the androids and eventually give you a flamethrower but yeah, I hear ya, it does get overwhelming constantly on the edge of your seat but I don't think the solution is to play as the alien. I didn't think it was a good idea in Colonial Marines either, even it was multiplayer. I just think if you want to play as the creatures, AvP is the way to go. The campaigns are deliberately woven together, all the species are balanced with pros and cons.

If there had been a way to play as the Alien, itself, the sales could easily have doubled, if not tripled. It put a lot of people off - myself, included.

Sales for AvP were less than Isolation and there were lots of variety there. Perhaps, I can see it probably would have got a few more interested but I suspect Amanda's story would have suffered because of it and we wouldn't have got the game we got.