A sequel to a cult classic game has just been officially shelved by Electronic Arts. As Electronic Arts has laid off more employees due to an unfortunate trend in the gaming industry, it looks as if more adjustments within the company are coming soon.With Electronic Arts shutting down more services for its older games, the gaming giant seems to be adjusting its funding for its classic games library. While nothing explicit has been stated regarding future plans within the company, a recent tweet confirms that another cult classic title's funding may have been rejected by the publisher.Alice: Asylum has been officially rejected by Electronic Arts. For those unfamiliar, Alice: Asylum is the much-awaited sequel to American McGee's Alice and Alice: Madness Returns. According to a tweet by American McGee, his team reached out to EA regarding funding or licensing for the property. Sadly, this did not turn out favorably as the publisher has decided to pass on the project citing market conditions, details of the production proposal, and the results of an internal analysis of the IP as the basis.
While Alice: Asylum has had early concept material released to its Patreon page, it was not enough to get the game funded. American McGee recently reached out to Electronic Arts to ask for support for the IP. While it is now known what the results of that discussion were, additional details have surfaced from the publisher's response. In addition to the rejection of funding, licensing options were also requested. However, EA had also replied that Alice is an important part of the company's overall game catalog and that selling or licensing was also out of the question at the moment.
In what seems like a missed opportunity for the amazing potential of Alice: Asylum, the unpredictability of today's video game industry has forced publishers to rethink their investments in IP. While franchise sequels and remakes are all the rave right now, it seems EA has other priorities on the list. Fans will have to wait whether this sequel is fully dead or if this is just a temporary closure of the property.
Currently, American McGee has decided to hibernate the game's Patreon page. He has also announced that he was closing the option to fund the project. In announcing the end of the game for the time being, McGee has thanked those who've worked on the materials finished so far, but many fans are still hoping that the sequel comes to fruition in the future.
Alice: Madness Returns is still available to play on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.