Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
The Alice video game franchise has been around more than two decades now, and while the franchise has a dedicated fan base, it hasn’t seen a new entry since 2011. This isn’t for a lack of trying, As developer American McGee has attempted to get a sequel off the ground, to no avail. His latest attempt was Alice: Asylum, which was recently rejected by EA. Following that debacle, McGee has announced his retirement from video game development.
American McGee announced his retirement from video games in a post to his Patreon, which had been used to fund pre-production work on Alice: Asylum. In the post, he explains that he and the team at Spicy Horse had put together a 414-page design bible that outlined their ideas and goals for the new Alice game, which the company presented to Electronic Arts, which holds the IP. EA turned down the pitch and also said that it has no interest in licensing out its Alice IP. After the frustrating ordeal, American McGee decided it was time to call it quits.
Alice: Asylum would have been the first new Alice game in over a decade, with Alice: Madness Returns having been released back in 2011. Since then, the story was continued with the Alice: Otherlands animated shorts in 2015. American McGee first revealed his plans for a new game, Alice: Asylum, in 2017. McGee has now stated that if another Alice game does get greenlit in the future, he won’t be part of it. He says he will now focus on his family business, Mysterious.