Cliff Bleszinski’s Boss Key Was in Talks to Make an Alien Shooter

Gears of War series creator Cliff Bleszinski revealed earlier today on social media that his Boss Key Productions development studio almost got to make a game based on the Alien film franchise. Unfortunately, the deal for the Alien shooter never came to fruition as Disney’s talks of acquiring Fox threw a wrench into the situation.

Funfact: Before BKP shut down we were in talks to do a new game in the Aliens franchise with Fox.

Then Disney bought them and that got lost in the shuffle, darnit.

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) February 10, 2020

While the game never entered production, Bleszinski did reveal some early ideas of what the Alien shooter would have offered if it had been completed. Ripley would be alive, serving as the player’s companion similar to Cortana in Halo and Anya Stroud in Gears of War. The first-person shooter also would have offered an alternate take on the universe after Aliens and starred Rebecca “Newt” Jorden as the protagonist. With the game taking place on Earth, she would have been aided by a “robotic pal” similar to Bishop named Casey after her doll in the film. Bleszinski also stated that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation “are weaponizing the aliens in a Black Mesa-style facility and, of course, all hell breaks loose.”

Sadly, the Boss Key Productions Alien shooter was never set in stone due to Fox’s business dealings, and later the financial failure of Bleszinski’s arena shooter LawBreakers contributed to Boss Key Productions’ dissolution. While disappointing, this is still a cool look at what could have been from the famed game designer.