The cancelation of Alice Asylum has continued to haunt fans of this bleak IP, but it's the creators who are the most hurt by this decision. Series creator American McGee recently told fans that he was devastated when EA canceled the game, but also hopes that they move on from this topic.
American McGee addressed fans on YouTube with a video called Asylum: Final Word, telling fans that this will be the last time he mentions this IP. McGee also went into this on his Patreon back in April, mentioning how he had the story, artwork, and a whole lore bible prepared but EA refused.
What makes this worse is that American McGee won’t be able to make Alice Asylum by itself, or any other Alice games, unfortunately. Since EA Games owns the IP, they still consider it an important part of their gaming catalog and won’t be selling it to McGee anytime soon.
"[EA] have ultimately decided to pass on the project based on an internal analysis of the IP, market conditions, and details of the production proposal," McGee said on Patreon. "On the question of licensing, they replied that 'Alice' is an important part of EA’s overall game catalog, and selling or licensing it isn’t something they’re prepared to do right now."
It must be depressing for a creator to not have access to their IP, especially if they were a major part of the success. Some could argue that American McGee’s Alice and the sequel Alice: Madness Returns aren’t the best games, but they’ve maintained a fanbase after all this time.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time EA has ripped away an IP from a developer before cutting ties with them. While the company’s Dead Space remake with Motive is great, the fact that they essentially killed Visceral Interactive is heinous.
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Alice Asylum will never come out, though American McGee’s other Alice games are still being sold by EA. Fans can also pick up the original Dead Space trilogy, in addition to the acclaimed remake.