Unconfirmed: Aliens RPG Cancelled, Obsidian Layoffs
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ources tell Kotaku that Sega has pulled the plug on their upcoming Aliens Roleplaying Game under development by California-based developer Obsidian.Damn. I was really looking forward to this game.
We've also been told that Obsidian, no longer working on the Sega project, laid off more than 20 people last night. With lack of official confirmation from anyone at the two companies involved, take this with a grain of salt.
Aliens Roleplaying Game was a title that Obsidian said would be "instilled with the action of Aliens and the terror of Alien" and take place in the "heart of science fiction horror." The title was under development for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
UPDATE: Obsidian Entertainment's Matthew Rorie posted this response to the company's forums:
I hope you guys understand that we really can't say anything. You guys are our community and I think you deserve some kind of comment, but unfortunately that comment is "no comment."If it were untrue, there'd be no reason to be quiet about it.
UPDATE 2: Someone using the alias "nouveauJoe" posted this comment on the situation:
I should be able to give a new perspective on the situation. Yes the project was canceled and several people were layed off, as to exactly how many I'm not sure. This comes a couple weeks after they knew they had 1 of a few options:Since we have no way to confirm the validity of these claims, take them as you will.
1] cut alot out of the game to try and fit the scope into the timeframe and budget.
2] ask for and receive more money from Sega.
3] project is canceled
As to why Sega decided to cancel the project rather than the others, I can only speculate on, but it wasn't much of a surprise with understanding how the game has been handled over the past year, as well as understanding how Alpha Protocol has been handled over the past 3 years plays a part in the cancellation of Aliens.
Obsidian definitely are not idiots, and they have several very talented and smart people over there, BUT in my opinion; from the top they don't understand how to make games anymore, and haven't learned from the problems of their failures from the past.
The last 3 major projects NWN2, AP, and Aliens have been plagued with troubles. And Obsidian has had to go to the publisher on many occasions and ask for more money than was agreed upon in the original contract. And I doubt that sits well with publishers when they see a trend like this.
Outside of KOTORII they have been on their own with building a game up from scratch and that has proved to be extremely difficult for them. I understand that NWN2 and AP were troubled from the very beginning but that Aliens got started on a very good footing but has been troubled for the last year or so.
