A previous game titled Aliens: Colonial Marines was developed by Check Six Games and was to be published by Fox Interactive and Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 2 in 2001, but was cancelled before its release. A more traditional first-person shooter, it shared the same subject matter and setting as the upcoming Gearbox-developed game. Its story was to be set between the events of Aliens and Alien 3, concerning a rescue team of Colonial Marines searching for the Sulaco. Despite the similarities in gameplay and story, however, Gearbox has claimed that their upcoming game is unrelated to this early version.[17][18]
On December 11, 2006, Sega announced they had purchased the electronic rights to the Alien franchise from 20th Century Fox.[19] On December 15, Gearbox Software and Sega announced that they were working on a completely new game based on the franchise.[16] In February 2008 the game's title was officially announced as Aliens: Colonial Marines and it was featured as the cover story of Game Informer magazine.[17]
The development team took great pains to recreate the vehicles and settings of the films by using original set designs to recreate the exterior and interior of the Sulaco and LV-426.[16] Concept artist Syd Mead, who had worked on Aliens, was hired to design areas of the Sulaco that did not appear in the film but would be used in the game.[12]
A Shacknews article dated November 21, 2008, reported that the Aliens: Colonial Marines game had been delayed, supposedly because of layoffs at Gearbox Software. However, Gearbox president Randy Pitchford insisted that development on the game continues.[20]
According to a Kotaku article, Sega said that their new Aliens vs. Predator game is to be released in early 2010 would be the first of their Aliens games to be released, meaning that Aliens: Colonial Marines will be sometime afterwards.[21]
At the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Gearbox showed five new screenshots and stated that the game remains a priority for them.[22][23]
In the beginning of June 2011, Gearbox unveiled a teaser trailer and officially announced that Colonial Marines would be presented on E3 2011 and that the game is expected to be released in spring 2012.[24][25]
