It's a good time to be an Alien fan right about now. Alien: Romulus has just been in cinemas, Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth TV series is well on its way (and even has a teaser already!), and one of the best movie tie-in video games ever made, Alien: Isolation, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week. But that's not all folks — that is not all! Not only does the aforementioned Alien: Isolation turn a decade old today, but — after years of fans waiting, and waiting, and waiting — the occasion has been marked by an official announcement from the game's creative director Al Hope. In short: Alien: Isolation 2 is happening!
Taking to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, earlier today, Hope — after paying tribute to the first game and its loyal player base — shared the following statement: "On the 10th anniversary, it seems only fitting to let you know that we have heard your distress calls loud and clear. Today, I'm delighted to confirm, on behalf of the team, that a sequel to Alien: Isolation is in early development. We look forward to sharing more details with you when we're ready."
Now, we don't know what the team at Creative Assembly and SEGA have in store for us just yet, when we can expect the game, or even which platforms the xenomorph-y sequel is set to launch on when it does get here. However, we do know that the original game — in which players take control of Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen, and tiptoe around the spaceship Sevastopol looking for clues and evading ol' acid-dribbler — is one of the most terrifying things we've ever experienced with a controller in our hands, and has in the years since its release been critically reappraised and recognised for the survival horror masterpiece it truly is. (We called it all along, naturally!) In fact, it's so good even Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez is himself an Isolation acolyte — hence those suspiciously save-point looking phones cropping up in his movie.
Until we hear more on this one, we're going to try and psychologically brace ourselves to finally replay the first game and complete it on nightmare mode. In space, no one can hear you scream. But in the office? Well... now's as good a time as any to test out those noise-cancelling earphones, right?