It’s been eight years since the release ofAliens: Colonial Marines, an action-focused first-person shooter developed by Gearbox Software (Borderlands 3) that was marketed as the true sequel to James Cameron’s 1986 film. Unfortunately,Aliens: Colonial Marinessuffered from significant technical and graphical issues, sparking controversy around the quality of the demos compared to the final product, and substantially damaging the brand. Sure,Alien: Isolationfound success in the survival-horror genre the following year, butAlienis a very different beast fromAliens, and the IP has been on a lengthy video game hiatus since.
Earlier this year, Focus Home Interactive and Cold Iron Studios announcedAliens: Fireteam, a third-person coop shooter best compared to the likes ofBack 4 BloodandRedfall, and the firstAliensgame to release sinceColonial Marines. Set 23 years after the events of the original film trilogy,Aliens: Fireteamis a standalone sequel with four unique campaigns, five playable character classes, brand new Xenomorph enemy types, and online co-op. During E3, Cold Iron Studios released a new trailer confirming the game’s release date, as well as a new name:Alien: Fireteam Elite.
Aliens: Fireteam’s Rebrand Could Be for Licensing
The first potential and most likely reason for Cold Iron Studios torebrand fromAliens: FireteamtoAliens: Fireteam Elite, right before the launch of the game next month, could be related to licensing. A lot of the background details surrounding development and publishing forAliens: Fireteam Eliteis a mystery due to the many changes of hand Cold Iron Studios has gone through; from FoxNext to Disney to Scopely, and now Daybreak Game Company in conjunction with Focus Home Interactive and 20th Century Games. It’s impossible to know the specifics, but it’s entirely possible rebranding helped distinguish things behind the scenes.
To Create A Sub-Series: Sequels & Spin-Offs
Another potential reason for the name change could be down to the idea of creating a sub-series of games, ifAliens: Fireteam Eliteends up being a success.Respawn Entertainment’s and EA’sStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderhas the colon in a specific place for a reason because the sub-series isStar Wars JediandFallen Orderis the name of that particular game. Cold Iron Studios could be planningAliens: Fireteamas a new sub-series and the addition of “Elite” is potentially added to help set each entry apart and avoid numerical titles likeAliens: Fireteam 2.
Very little is known aboutthe story ofAliens: Fireteam Elite, or any of the four unique campaigns players will have access to when the game launches in August. The general premise follows a team of Colonial Marines on board the USS Endeavor, who respond to a distress signal in the outer colonies, 23 years after the events of the original film trilogy. Beyond that, there are a bunch of minor details such as the involvement of Weyland-Yutani, the Colonial Protection Act, which brought the marines to the outer colonies in the first place to prevent corporate control, and that players won’t be a preset marine (customization will be plentiful).
Fireteam Elitecould be the name of the battalion players are part of, and therefore made more sense to change the name. Or it could potentially be something else that will make a lot more sense as players progress through the story, similar toHorizon Zero Dawn.
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Avoiding Brand Confusion
One last possibility, and one that’s likely to be part of the reason, is simply to avoid confusion with any other brand or game. It’s not too farfetched to think that with so many other games in the genre coming in the next 1-2 years (Back 4 Blood,Rainbow Six Extraction, andRedfall), Cold Iron Studios wanted to make the title stand out a little more. It’s not the predominant reason, but brand confusion was likely a small piece in a much larger puzzle.
Despite reaching out to the development team online, neither Cold Iron Studios nor its publisher Focus Home Interactive has made any official comment on whyAliens: Fireteam Elitewas rebranded ahead of its release next month. Outside of being the IGN First game for March, marketing and coverage forAliens: Fireteam Elitehas been minimal at best.
In the lead up to launch next month, Cold Iron Studios, Focus Home Interactive, and 20th Century Games need to pull out all the stops and start to show players whyAliens: Fireteam Eliteis something to be excited about. Games likeAliens: Fireteam Elitelive and die based on their communities, so it’d be great to receive more information on the game’s other playable classes, the four unique campaign stories, and what the plans are for post-launch DLC support.
Aliens: Fireteam Eliteis scheduled to release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2021.
