Alien: Isolation sequel confirmed as early development begins

On the 10th anniversary of the release of the original game, Creative Assembly has confirmed that a new Alien: Isolation is under development at the studio.

In a post on Twitter, Creative Director Al Hope addressed fans directly to say that they had “heard your distress calls loud and clear.”

https://twitter.com/AlienIsolation/status/1843305291322200488

“On the 10th anniversary, it seems only fitting to let you know that we have heard your distress calls loud and clear,” Hope said. “Today, I’m delighted to confirm, on behalf of the team, that a sequel to Alien: Isolation is in early development. We look forward to sharing more details with you when we’re ready.”

The confirmation was predictably short on any tangible information on what this new release might look like, but the earlier portion of the statement does underline the developer’s commitment to authenticity.

There is also no further clarification on when players might get their hands on the game, or even have their first look at a gameplay trailer. That said, Hope did confirm it is in “early development,” so we likely won’t hear more before 2025.

The original 2014 release drew significant praise for its take on the franchise, with particular attention paid to replicating the atmosphere created in the first movie. Players are not able to defeat the alien in an open fight; instead, they have to fend it off or hide until it moves away.

Under the hood, it also featured some genuinely impressive technology that dialed up the scares to a new level. The Xenomorph was actually able to learn from player behavior and adjust how it hunts accordingly, even retaining and adding information to its memory banks when successfully catching and killing the player.

With Hope retaining his position as creative director, a stark change of direction is unlikely, but time will tell if they are able to recapture the magic of the original.