What’s Going on With Alien: Isolation 2?
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror that came out in 2014. For those who are unfamiliar, it is an installment in the long-running Alien franchise. However, Alien: Isolation isn’t centered on a previous protagonist. Instead, it features Amanda Ripley, who stumble upon trouble while searching for information about her mother Ellen Ripley’s final fate. To be exact, Amanda learns that the flight recorder of her mother’s ship has been recovered before being brought to a space station called the Sevastopol. As a result, she signs up with a Weyland-Yutani team that has been sent to retrieve it so that she can receive a measure of closure with whatever it is that has happened to her mother. Unfortunately, when the team comes upon Sevastopol, it turns out that the space station has sustained some serious damage because of unknown causes. Even worse, Amanda is separated from the rest of the team while they are making their way into the space station.
Over the course of Alien: Isolation, Amanda uncovers the cause of the Sevastopol’s unfortunate fate. Furthermore, she receives a measure of closure by finding a message recorded by her mother. However, it is interesting to note that Alien: Isolation ended on something of a cliffhanger, with Amanda being woken up by a searchlight shining upon her space suit. A situation that came to be because she was forced to space both her and one of the franchise’s titular monsters when she was cornered in an airlock.
Whatever Happened to Alien: Isolation 2?
As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that there is a fair amount of interest in an Alien: Isolation follow-up. Something that is particularly true because the title managed to provide a lot of people with a lot of fun. This has resulted in much speculation that reached a fever pitch when it was revealed that such a follow-up was coming out. However, for a lot of people, there is an issue in that said follow-up isn’t a release for the major platforms like its predecessor but rather a mobile release. For those who are curious, the Alien: Isolation follow-up is called Alien Blackout. In it, Amanda has stumbled into another troublesome situation. However, she is now much more concerned with saving others than herself. Unfortunately, Alien Blackout is interesting in that Amanda can’t tackle the situation in a personal manner. Instead, she has to make good use of a space station’s emergency systems to guide other survivors to safety while hindering their pursuer as much as possible. On the whole, Alien Blackout isn’t bad for what it is, but it isn’t what a lot of people wanted from an Alien: Isolation follow-up.
Will There Ever Be an Alien: Isolation 2?
In any case, the chances of interested individuals seeing a “proper” follow-up to the title seem to be pretty minimal for the time being. There might have been a time when such a title was possible, but if so, the circumstances have changed enough that it is no longer the case. First, Alien: Isolation received a lot of critical praise. Furthermore, this enthusiasm on the part of critics seems to have been matched by a similar enthusiasm on the part of consumers, as shown by how it managed to sell more than two million copies. However, while said figure is pretty impressive for a horror title, it is known that Sega considered it to be a “weak” performer. As such, Sega wasn’t in a huge rush to make an Alien: Isolation follow-up because it had better prospects to follow up on.
Since that time, the situation has worsened for a number of reasons. For example, the studio that made Alien: Isolation is Creative Assembly, but there are a couple of reasons to believe that Creative Assembly won’t be making an Alien: Isolation follow-up anytime soon. First, Creative Assembly is very busy. Currently, it has not one but two main titles in the Total War series, with one being Total War: Warhammer II and the other being Total War: Three Kingdoms. Both of these titles have been released, but they are still receiving a regular succession of DLC as well as other updates, meaning that they need a regular infusion of resources. Furthermore, there is a team making the third Warhammer title as well as another team making a smaller title based on a “history behind the myth” interpretation of the Trojan War. On top of this, there are people making some kind of new FPS title at Creative Assembly, which seems to be based on a new IP rather than an existing IP. As for the other issue, the simple fact of the matter is that the people behind Alien: Isolation have already gone their separate ways from Creative Assembly for the most part. Due to this, even if the studio got the go-ahead to make an Alien: Isolation follow-up, the result wouldn’t be the same because the institutional expertise and experience no longer exists.
Meanwhile, the other side of things isn’t that much better. Currently, the rights for Alien games are being managed by FoxNext, which is responsible for virtual reality as well as theme parks for Fox franchises as well. However, FoxNext has been very hesitant when it comes to releasing new titles, thus resulting in no more than a very small number of mobile releases ever since its relatively recent formation. Admittedly, there is apparently a meatier Alien title in the works, but it isn’t what Alien: Isolation fans have been hoping for. On top of this, it should be mentioned that Disney has expressed an interest in selling off FoxNext in very recent times, which isn’t exactly the kind of situation that would encourage it to go ahead with big projects for the time being thanks to the uncertainties that have come up.
Summed up, the situation isn’t looking too good for the chances of an Alien: Isolation follow-up. Theoretically, things could change for the better in the times to come, but if so, that is something that interested individuals won’t be able to predict. As such, it is better for them to focus on other matters for the time being because there is no point for them to get stressed out by something that they can’t affect anyways.
