EA Rejects Alice: Asylum; Broken American McGee is Done With Gamedev

After more than a decade of trying to develop the third installment of Alice its creator, American McGee, has finally given up. Not only does the developer no longer intend to attempt to make a continuation, but he no longer wants to develop any video games at all.

1. Context: since the release of Alice: Madness Returns in 2011, the developer has repeatedly tried to convince Electronic Arts to make a sequel. The most recent approach was Alice: Asylum. With the financial support from the fans, McGee was able to produce a so-called "design bible," a document of several hundred pages with a script, gameplay ideas and many graphics showing what the game would look like.
2. American McGee held talks with Electronic Arts, during which he presented the company with this document, as well as a developmeny plan drawn up together with Virtuos Games.
3. McGee wanted EA to finance the work on Alice: Asylum, but he was also willing to obtain only a license from the publisher to develop the title, which would have been published by another company in such a scenario.
4. Electronic Arts rejected both of these proposals. The publisher said that under current market conditions, developing a new installment of the brand is not a good idea. At the same time, it also refused to grant a license, claiming that the series is too important a part of EA's legacy.
5. Such a response clearly broke down the creator. American McGee has had enough. He announced that he will not make further attempts to develop a continuation. Moreover, he is leaving the video game industry altogether.
6. The creator also stated that if EA decides to make a new "Alice" in the future, he wants nothing to do with the project.

It's hard not to understand the creator's emotions. The constant failures in attempts to resurrect the series have done its job. Some might argue that McGee should simply develop a new game in the same style and use another classic children's brand for it. However, the developer has tried this in the past and the results of this, in the form of American McGee's Grimm and a game based on Red Riding Hood, Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, proved to be severely disappointing, mainly due to the low-budget nature of both projects.

The creator has been inactive in the game industry for many years. He only wanted to complete the story of his version of Alice and that proved impossible. In his post on Patreon one senses considerable bitterness. However, it's hard to fully believe the statement that even if a new part of the series is made, he doesn't want to have anything to do with it. Once the emotions subside, McGee may yet change his mind.

Alice: Madness Returns

June 14, 2011

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• Overview

• EA / Electronic Arts
• American McGee's Alice (series)
• American McGee
• action adventure games
• cancelled games