New Aliens Video Game Leaked

Information about a sequel to Aliens: Fireteam Elite has accidentally leaked online. When it originally launched in 2021, Aliens: Fireteam Elite was not a hit right out of the gate. Developer Cold Iron Studios’ debut title received generally middling reviews, with a few outliers being slightly more generous with their praise. However, the game did well enough to receive a Nintendo Switch port in 2023, and now apparently there’s a sequel in the works.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is third-person co-op shooter, similar to other games that came out around the same time like Turtle Rock Studios’ Back 4 Blood and Bethesda’s Redfall. Two players, or a single player aided by AI, run through 12 missions set after the events of the original trilogy. The duo of Colonial Marines is sent aboard a space station overrun by Xenomorphs, tasked with cleaning up another mess created by Weyland-Yutani’s “research.”

Alien: Fireteam Elite Sequel Apparently in the Works

Rumors that a sequel to Alien: Fireteam Elite might be in development surfaced in mid-2024, and an M-rated listing for the game recently appeared on the ESRB website. Though it was quickly taken down, Polygon was able to spot two tidbits of info about the game first. It will be released for PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5. Additionally, the publisher will be Daybreak Game Company, which owns Cold Iron Studios. The first game was published by the developer itself, with assistance from Focus Home Interactive for EU distribution.

Some people might be surprised to learn that a sequel to Alien: Fireteam Elite was greenlighted, giving the game’s reception at launch. After the initial surge when the game released, player count plummeted quickly but has remained steady in the four years since, maintaining a base of 500-1000 players, on Steam at least, with occasional upticks. However, it’s worth noting that Aliens: Fireteam Elite has a Very Positive overall user rating on that platform, out of more than 13,000 reviews. Perhaps that was encouraging enough for the developer and publisher to see promise in a sequel.

Critics were unhappy about Alien: Fireteam Elite’s repetitive levels, with tedious hallways, endless hordes of enemies, and lack of variety in mission objectives. They also pointed out the general absence of a story or cutscenes to keep players motivated. On the other hand, players praised the tension created by those maze-like hallways, as well as the variety added by the game’s class system.

It also stands to reason that the interest in Alien video games will likely never fade. Fans are still clamoring for a remaster of Alien: Isolation, a game widely accepted to be one of the best horror games ever, despite the confirmation of a sequel. And the success of Alien: Romulus and FX’s TV series Alien: Earth have only served to increase the fervor for more games in the franchise.