American McGee has been trying to revive his Alice franchise with a new installment for years. To do so, he planned Alice: Asylum, a prequel to the original game, and presented it to Electronic Arts to secure funding and make it a reality. Unfortunately, the company is not interested and the project will not be possible.
The developer confirmed this on his social media, revealing that the studio essentially refused to do anything with the franchise. It's undoubtedly bad news for fans of the saga and, of course, for McGee, who announced that he will step away from game development.
Alice: Asylum will not become a reality and McGee steps away from the industry
Due to his passion for the franchise and the numerous requests from fans, McGee prepared all the necessary material to begin development on a new installment. The developer presented EA with everything from conceptual art to narrative aspects and gameplay mechanics for Alice: Asylum. However, the company refused to make it a reality.
We know that the developer and the company met to discuss the possibilities of creating the title. In the end, EA did not give in, so it did not accept financing the project or licensing the IP so that McGee or someone else could develop the prequel.
Unfortunately, McGee stated that there is no other alternative to try to make the project happen, so he ended it. He explained that EA refused to license the franchise because, ironically, it considers it an important part of its overall game catalog. Due to this, they do not plan to sell or lend the franchise.
On the other hand, we know that the company refused to finance the project after analyzing the IP as such, the current market, and the production challenges that the project involved. McGee will close the page dedicated to Alice: Asylum and step away from game development.
"I have also reached an endpoint with Alice and with game production in general. I have no other ideas or energy left to apply toward getting a new Alice game made. Nor do I have any interest in pursuing new game ideas within the context of the current environment for game development. If someone does manage to convince EA to make Asylum, I would like to make clear that, from this point forward, I have no desire to be involved with that or any other Alice-related development.", said the creative.
Alice: Asylum has reached The End
— ⚓ American McGee 🏴☠️ (@americanmcgee) April 7, 2023
After several weeks of review, EA has come back with a response regarding funding and/or licensing for "Alice: Asylum" - Alice had a good run but the dream is over. https://t.co/hyprIq9MpE#gamedev #aliceasylum pic.twitter.com/sIE3bKbaVY
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