New Alien Game Confirmed for Console

Quote

SEGA-owned UK studio The Creative Assembly, best known for the Total War strategy games, last week announced plans to open a new 10,000 square foot studio and expand its head count from 160 to 200 as it embarked on a 'triple-A' new game based on the Alien IP.

...

Q: In terms of CA and Alien, whose choice was it to give this game to this studio?

Tim Heaton: Well, the team finished Viking about three years ago now, and that was... flawed when it came out for PS3 and 360. I think it was flawed due to scope and timing issues and whatever, and it just didn't have the time it needed to gestate. So then I came in and we looked at that console team, or at the bare bones of what was left of that console team, and we talked about what we should do. So we developed a demo using some of the technology from Viking, but really quite changed, and we took it to SEGA. We knew the Alien license was part of SEGA's portfolio, so we showed them the demo and that was when everything changed. They got it, and it all became very clear that there was an opportunity there. The team were absolutely obsessed with it - it is the perfect videogame content, is not? It's fantastic and the legacy...

Equally, we are really commercially-minded, and we are that both in the studio and when we talk to SEGA. We only want to do something that's going to be massively successful, so we understand the quality levels that we need to hit in order to sell an awful lot of this game. So we want to make something that's quite different - we're not just wanting to take the license and knock out a licensed game, we want to make something really special out of it. So we've spent three years since Viking working on the technology, really bespoke for this genre of game, for what we're making, and it feels really, really strong now. So this is where we're happy to raise our heads above the parapet and talk about it a touch.

Q: Is there any concern that the Alien/Aliens IP might be losing any appeal to the public? Recent films weren't well-received and now even Ridley Scott's prequel movie is apparently not going to be about Aliens after all...

Tim Heaton: Well, with AvP coming out... maybe you could talk about the quality of AvP but people really, really wanted to play it. There's still a passion there for that, for the license and the property. And then I know what we're doing with that property takes us a little bit into a more interesting place, so we're not knocking a bog-standard space marine shooter.

Mike Hayes: It's going to be a great game in its own right, and it will have the license as well.

Q: You've only described it so far as 'a console game' - does that lock you into this generation of hardware, given we're hearing all kinds of stuff about new systems impending?

Tim Heaton: We're pragmatic about what those platforms are going to be, given the timing and stuff. Can't say any more than that.

Q: You said earlier that you didn't have enough time on Viking - will you be ensuring this doesn't suffer the same problem?

Tim Heaton: Yes. I can't say when it's out, but absolutely. SEGA have invested the right amount of money in this project so it can absolutely deliver, and now it's down to us to do it.

Q: In terms of the license, how much scope and freedom does SEGA have with it - years, platforms and artistic license?

Mike Hayes: Well, a lot of that is confidential, but in terms of what we can do in the world of Aliens we do have an excellent relationship with Fox. And they understand games - it's incredible how they understand the business. So the creative scope that we have is actually very good. There's always going to be limitations because it's an IP, but from a gaming point of view I think they're a great partner to work with, because they are giving us a lot of freedom to develop that IP in a positive way for gaming. As Tim said earlier, we are trying to create a brilliant game, so we need to be able to do that first and foremost within the world of the IP, rather than "here's the script, go make the script". That, I think, is very important for us on this project. With Aliens vs Predator we had such a big success with that project, so we think if we create interesting and high quality variations upon that world, then I think commercially it could run and run. It's such a powerful license, quite a unique one in that respect.

Q: Is a big license or established brand attached to a game critical to its success these days?

Mike Hayes: Yeah, absolutely. With something like Aliens, because it's so strong it potentially de-risks a project in so far as we don't need to spend so much marketing money. So when you see some of the behemoth new IPs coming out from our competitors and I see the rumoured amounts of money that's being spent on development but also purely on marketing, it begins to make your toes curl. It does show that the risk is so much greater. So having a Football Manager, a Total War, a Monkey Ball, an Alien, a Sonic in the portfolio does give you a degree of stability. Key within all that is how we transition it over to less traditional gaming markets, but with that IP you can definitely have a more sure-footed potential of success. But it's never guaranteed.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-05-16-to-be-this-good-takes-ages-interview