Aliens: Colonial Marines delayed until Autumn

News PC Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Wii U

Gearbox-developed bug hunt still not ready.

Long-in-the-offing shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines has been delayed from this Spring until some time in the Autumn, Sega has announced.

A statement from the publisher handed to Eurogamer explained that developer Gearbox Software needs a little more time to finish things up.

"Aliens: Colonial Marines is a process of creativity and invention and those don't necessarily follow the structure of an assembly line. While setting clear goals, deadlines and predictions is helpful, they are often subjective.

"We don't want to sacrifice the creative process just for the sake of following a blue print. We prefer to have the creative discovery shape that blue print because our goal is to make a great game, and we are prioritising this goal over the previously targeted date."

The game was first announced way, way back in 2006. What's a few more months, eh?

To be fair, Gearbox has plenty on its plate right now, what with this, Borderlands 2 and Brothers in Arms: Furious 4.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

Comments (61) Latest comment 4 weeks ago

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DAN.E.B #1 4 weeks ago

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Is this game going to released at all?
It seems to be taking forever!
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Scottw75 #2 4 weeks ago

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It's the new duke nukem!
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MattEdWithCheese #3 4 weeks ago

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I believe someone on the Parcarst referred to this, DNF and the next Brothers in Arms as Gearbox's "Trinity of Mediocrity..."
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MrE26 #4 4 weeks ago

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Not really a huge shock is it?
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IncredibleKoosh #5 4 weeks ago

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I like this trend of delaying games to allow developers time to polish them. Would rather wait a couple of months for a better product than it be released and be bug ridden.

Long may it continue.
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SHEEPISH47 #6 4 weeks ago

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FFs this game better be absolutely amazing or Gearbox has messed up :/
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mr_pink #7 4 weeks ago

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Argh, more waiting. Normally I'd say yes make sure it's polished before release, but in this case it's been in development for ages. I'd rather they shifted resources from Borderlands and Brothers in Arms, which let's face it, is going to be more of the same.
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Cjail #8 4 weeks ago

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@Scottw75
This one has been in production since 2001 so is very close to be the new Duke Nukem.

Edited by 1 at 26/01/12 @ 22:06
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Zyklonbzombie #9 4 weeks ago

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They mostly come out in the run up to Christmas. Mostly.
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metallicorphan #10 4 weeks ago

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if this carries on,it will never be Game Over!!
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bad09 #11 4 weeks ago

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Well that's great, that's just fuckin' great, man. Now what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty shit now man....
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mattk84 #12 4 weeks ago

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If its by Sega then I doubt it will be any good.Can't recall the last quality title they did (Sonic aside).
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Hindle #13 4 weeks ago

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New trailer is coming tomorrow on Ign as well.
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-cerberus- #14 4 weeks ago

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Hope Lucius doesn't get pushed back or I'll have nothing to play up until June (Bioshock: Infinite, right?).
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Wyrm #15 4 weeks ago

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Good. The trailer had me worried.
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bit-crusheRRRR #16 4 weeks ago

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Waiting for wii u launch maybe?
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irrational-gaz #17 4 weeks ago

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My Guess is either Sega needs a win this christmas or the QA guys laughed gearbox out of the office when they turned up with a half finished game.

Either way I'm done waiting for this game six years is long enough. What a shame I'll have to buy mass effect 3 instead.

Edited by 1 at 26/01/12 @ 22:25
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TomDent93 #18 4 weeks ago

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Imagine what would happen if a call of duty got delayed, activision would probably implode.
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Triggerhappytel #19 4 weeks ago

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Well, I've been waiting for this since 2001, so what difference will another six months make, huh?
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FatalHybrid #20 4 weeks ago

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@Cjail Diablo III has also been in production since 2001.. Seems developers are liking the DNF strategy.
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Triggerhappytel #21 4 weeks ago

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@mattk84
"If its by Sega then I doubt it will be any good.Can't recall the last quality title they
did (Sonic aside)."

It's okay man, I'll help you:

Bayonetta
Vanquish
Yakuza series
House of the Dead Overkill
Renegade Ops
And next month Binary Domain.

You're welcome.
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smilernick #22 4 weeks ago

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Heh heh...yeah...this game mostly just gets delayed, mostly!
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Chibi-Kibou #23 4 weeks ago

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Hum..

Looks good and I'm a little excited for it ( although FPS feels.. inappropriate as genre choice for some strange reason, not sure what I'd suggest instead though ), this being my first time hearing about the game at all.

But for some reason there was something awfully non-threatening about the xenomorphs and the situation..

Strange. Maybe it was just because of the.. well, whoever it was, narrating over it. That and some of the animations looked to need a bit more polish (spontaneously appearing gun, for one) and a little of the voice acting was a bit stilted, but anyhow.

Edited by 2 at 26/01/12 @ 23:06
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Bulbatron #24 4 weeks ago

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More than happy to wait if we get a better and more polished game out of it.
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Sid-Nice #25 4 weeks ago

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I'm hanging on for the Wii U version.
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scooterwolf #26 4 weeks ago

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Look, man. I only need to know one thing: where they are.
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ExplodingClown #27 4 weeks ago

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However long it's delayed, whatever the final quality at release, there's simply no way this can be as bad as the Aliens V Predator remake. Please...?

Ooh, negged! You mean there was someone out there who actually LIKED the travesty Rebellion made of their past glory?

Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 19:41
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CaptainQuint #28 4 weeks ago

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@bad09

Are you finished?
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oldschoolsoviet #29 4 weeks ago

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More than happy to wait if we get a better and more polished game out of it.

Can't polish a turd.....etc.

"Bull" alien killed all hope for this.
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mattk84 #30 4 weeks ago

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@Triggerhappytel

Thanks for proving my point.

No...you're welcome.
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IncredibleKoosh #31 4 weeks ago

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@mattk84 How did he prove your point, pray tell?
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stryker1121 #32 4 weeks ago

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Six more months to polish a game w/ more scripted events than a carnival funhouse, at least from the footage I've seen. Ooh look that metal grating just fell off when i walked by it! Ah I'm frightened! (And so on...)
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TheGuvernor #33 4 weeks ago

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In space no one can hear you procrastinate.
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dirtysteve #34 4 weeks ago

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Well at least it's a ground-up development, not a takeover job.
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darkmorgado #35 4 weeks ago

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6 years in development, and still announcing delays due to quality issues.

Not got my hopes high for this one.
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The_Weird #36 4 weeks ago

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This will be a Wii U launch title, since that's now supposed to be out for Christmas. Given the track record of previous Aliens games (apart from the first AvP, which was ace), I would expect only lukewarm sales for this, especially given the usual FPS cometition on 360/PS3.

As a Wii U launch title though, with a 'motion tracker' on the controller display, it could even be a system seller.
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darkmorgado #37 4 weeks ago

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@mattk84

You realise Sega aren't developing this, don't you? Or are you not intelligent enough to grasp that Publisher and Developer are two very different things?
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bad09 #38 4 weeks ago

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@CaptainQuint

I knew someone on EG wouldn't let me down

Edited by 1 at 27/01/12 @ 09:03
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kickerconspiracy #39 4 weeks ago

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It's going to be a long wait, so maybe we could build a fire, sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don't we try that?
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Sausagechaos #40 4 weeks ago

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Delay caused by shoehorning in a Prometheus end of level boss.
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CORIANA_SIX #41 4 weeks ago

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last demo looked promising but lacked something
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Negotiator1 #42 4 weeks ago

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Gearbox are the most overrated dev's in the world, they just can't hit deadline's and their games are borderland average.
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optimusprym8 #43 4 weeks ago

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Last night SEGA teased in a tweet that the new trailer would be out today. About 5 minutes later EG tweeted that the game was going to be delayed. Way to take the wind out the PR sails EG.

I much prefer delays for polish rather than another rush-job
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jonc24 #44 4 weeks ago

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Think they've missed a trick by not having this release around Prometheus but after 6 years in development it's clear they must be more focused on their own IP's, Brothers in Arms and Borderlands 2. Surprised Sega is putting up with this. Unless it was their decision?
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madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #45 4 weeks ago

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I think it is quite likely that this will get pushed further back into Q4 ie. Feb/March.
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Bullet_Tunnel #46 4 weeks ago

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a day in the core is like a day on the farm, every meal a banquet, every paycheque a fortune... i love the core...
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sega #47 4 weeks ago

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Although, with all this extra time to work on it, someone just HAS to notice they have the pulse rifle sounds completely wrong this time around ... right?

Edited by 1 at 27/01/12 @ 10:54
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BillPoon #48 4 weeks ago

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@Bullet_Tunnel corps.
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sega #49 4 weeks ago

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@Bullet_Tunnel and you also missed out "every formation a parade".
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onesandzeros #50 4 weeks ago

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Post deleted at 19:13:19 27-01-2012
geeza2020 #51 4 weeks ago

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I imagine (hope) the devlopers office sounds a bit like this at the moment:-

Dev 1: "How many releases is this for you, Dev boss?"
Dev boss: "Thirty eight... istore releases."
Dev 2: "How many *console* releases?"
Dev boss: "Uh, two. Including this one."
Dev 3: "Shit."
Dev 4: "Oh, man..."

Obligatory Apone: "Allright, sweethearts, you heard the man and you know the drill! Assholes and elbows!"
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coolbritannia #52 4 weeks ago

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*clunk-click*
*stomp* *stomp*
*whirrrrrrrrrrr*
*clonk-clonk*
"Where do you want it?"
*smiles*
"Q4, please."
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coolbritannia #53 4 weeks ago

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Kinda ironic that this will now miss the sales boost from Prometheus, and face Halo 4 in the stiff competition stakes. The concept is crap anyway, there should be nothing left of Hadley's Hope, and the numbers of Xenomorphs on the planet now is negligible. Assuming there are 130 drones, 1 for each colonist minus Newt(I'm guessing the colony pop from memory so apologies if wrong) and maybe another 6 for the Marines captured in Aliens (even though the area they were cocooned in was right under the cooling units and surely perished before gestation completed) there's less than 140 Warrior xenomorphs in total.

How many did the marines ice? 20, 30, 40? I know it's the special Ed but the auto turrets must have killed dozens by themselves. The colonists clearly got a few as well.

Ripley killed about 4 herself. And then there's the small matter of that massive fucking nuke going off as the atmosphere processor went up...

So where are the dozens of Aliens seen in the gameplay released so far coming from!?

Edited by 1 at 27/01/12 @ 12:52
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rudedudejude #54 4 weeks ago

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Nothing I've seen of it looks 'WOW' tbh but we will see. Hopefully not just another AvP.
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Canyarion #55 4 weeks ago

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As long as I can place my turrets whereever I want, I'll be happy.
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damagedinc #56 4 weeks ago

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Not suprised...bit of bug fixing and riding of the success (hopefully) of prometheus. Fingers crossed to a decent game at the very least.
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irrational-gaz #57 4 weeks ago

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@Triggerhappytel Don't get me wrong I'd love to be playing the game but this is the same crap gearbox have fed us with every six months for at least the past three years.

What's worse is that I just saw a new trailer for the game on IGN that made me wet myself it looked so cool
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ruthlesskiller #58 4 weeks ago

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In case you weren't aware during the time of AvP being in development and Colonial Marines was due to be released in the same quarter (why? who knows?). Sega delayed it until the next year at least, rather than taking the Activision strategy of releasing IP's as often as possible. So Colonial Marines would've hardly had anyone working on it as Gearbox would have most of their staff on Borderlands, Duke, Brothers in Arms etc... so this would never have seen the light of day until AvP was released, which was delayed itself if I remember rightly. So a six month delay is nothing really
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muttler #59 4 weeks ago

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Ffs.
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ExplodingClown #60 4 weeks ago

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@JAGUARCD32x "I can't think of a game that got delayed so much that turnt out to be worth the wait"

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
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EricCartman1st #61 4 weeks ago

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@bad09 knock it off Hudson
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