Alien Breed Evolution to spawn trilogy on XBLA, PSN, PC

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 14th 2009 at 11:50AM }

Speaking at the Develop Conference in Brighton, England today, Team17 leader Martyn Brown described his studio's forthcoming digital release, Alien Breed Evolution, as a trilogy -- "one of the most expensive digital titles to-date," too -- according to GamesIndustry.biz. Said to be costing in the realm of $2.5 million to develop, Team17's Unreal remake of its Amiga shooter will be distributed in three parts, spanning an estimated 15 hours of gameplay. The first "episode" will include three, one-hour levels and an additional three-hour, co-op scenario, and is scheduled to hatch on Xbox Live Arcade around October and destined for PSN at a later date, confirmed VG247.

The underlying message of Brown's presentation, titled "10 Things Nobody Tells You About Digital Distribution and Self-publishing That You Must Understand to Succeed," seemed to be one of caution, as summarized by Gamasutra. Brown dispelled much of the get-rich-quick myth of independent, digital development -- and publishing. Sure, one in a billion basement programmers might strike gold, but to enjoy lasting success, as Team17 has for nearly two decades, expect to spend money to make money and employ a staff with a "wide variety of skills" (a team of 30 or so is currently working on Alien Breed, for example). Brown warned, "if you don't know something, get someone who does, because you will not be able to wing it."

Update: It's coming to PC too.

Source - Alien Breed trilogy cost $2.5 million to make
Source - Alien Breed trilogy: PS3 version coming later
Source - Develop 2009: Team17's Brown Talks Challenges Of Self-Publishing Online

Tags: alien-breed, alien-breed-evolution, develop-conference, psn, team-17, team17, trilogy, uk, unreal-engine-3, xbla

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

MystileArmor @ Jul 14th 2009 11:57AM

That itch in my pants tells me this game is going to fail misserably and suck harder then a 1 dollar prostitute.

It's either that or that bad rash Poison Ivy left.

Neuromancer @ Jul 14th 2009 12:26PM

Why do you say that, from what I understand the Alien Breed games were pretty popular back in the day.

MystileArmor @ Jul 14th 2009 12:51PM

Well, I say that because first of all, if they put so much money in it, they're gonna price it fairly heavy. Atleast that would be my assumption.

Also, I'm not familiar with the Alien Breed games, but other then Worms, I can't remember anything Team 17 has put out that was excellent.

sam @ Jul 14th 2009 5:50PM

Um, the original Alien Breed was pretty much Team 17's only good game... (and it was a very good one, too).

Okay, other people liked Worms; I didn't, so sue me. Alien Breed kicked arse.

Galactic @ Sep 20th 2009 2:59PM

Team17 did 3 kick ass games in the early 90's (just before i bought my first pc bcs of doom)
1) Alien Breed
2) Project X
3) Super Frog

PeacefulOutrage @ Jul 14th 2009 12:13PM

He said a lot of great advice. He touched on some things that would seem obvious if you take time to think about it, but easy to overlook.

Geting someone who knows what they are doing is what many top businessmen do. They may not be rocket scientists, but if they need that type of information, they know where to get it.

Developers complain when they feel MS doesn't give them enough promotion for THEIR game. Hello!??! Who's game is it? Give joystiq a few copies for a contest, and have contests for the best fansite, which not only would generate promotion, but wouldn't cost too much and save man hours for working on the actual game.

Many people blamed MS when their favorite game doesn't pass certification right away, but certification is BUG TESTING, and still not 100% fool-poof. Would you rather get a buggy mess?

Steve @ Jul 14th 2009 12:27PM

When are developers going to stop using that flawed game-engine?

linger1 @ Jul 14th 2009 12:33PM

I fondly remember the orginal Alien Breed for the Commodore Amiga. An incredible game for it's time. The co-op gameplay can be described as frantic.

Probably the best game of all time for the Amiga. I'm looking forward to the remake.

Viglin @ Jul 14th 2009 12:42PM

Ah the Amiga 1200, how l miss thee...damn you second largest evil corporation in the world for bringing it down.
If this can be anything like Alien Breed gameplay, with todays expectations on atmosphere, this could be a winner.

monkeymonkeymonkey @ Jul 14th 2009 2:53PM

I thought for a minute this was a remake of Alien Syndrome. :(

Alien Syndrome was a great game, wish it would be evolved.

BFBeast666 @ Jul 14th 2009 5:16PM

Why, oh why does it have to be episodic? I hereby predict not one, but three 1200 point titles, or 1600 if T17 is feeling particularly EA-ish.

Rahabib @ Jul 14th 2009 5:46PM

3 hours??!! it better be $5 each episode.

BFBeast666 @ Jul 14th 2009 7:39PM

Not that the original AB was a 30-hour epic, but come on, 3 hours? You gotta be joking...

Jayenkai @ Jul 15th 2009 7:47AM

3 hours is plenty.
I must've played Alien Breed for hundreds of hours, and it only lasted.. what? About an hour?

You know.. You CAN replay a game!

To be honest, it seems they've put too much work into this.
The original looked fantastic, and it wasn't a mega-team that put it together.
Look how good the new Worms looks, with lovely little explosions, and decent fire effects, and darn good artwork.
Now, imagine 2D Top-down Alien Breed with THAT!
That'd be good.

This will probably be a case of "Tried too hard, messed it up."