Alien: Blackout Trademark Filed by 20th Century Fox

The next game installment in the Alien franchise could be getting a reveal soon. As discovered by DualShockers, 20th Century Fox has filed a trademark for Alien: Blackout, which is to be used in the following manner:

Computer game discs; software, namely, game software, computer game and video game software, downloadable computer game software, downloadable mobile application software used for playing electronic games and streaming audiovisual and multimedia content in the fields of games and entertainment, interactive game software, and downloadable software used for playing electronic games and streaming audiovisual and multimedia content…

The timing of the filing might indicate that an announcement could be taking place at The Game Awards, which will be streamed live on December 6. According to the Twitter account for the awards show, this year’s iteration will feature “the largest lineup of new game announcements in show history.”

DualShockers also updated their story to indicate that a Twitter account for Alien: Blackout has been discovered, but its tweets are protected. The account has a profile picture that features the logo for FoxNext, which is the video games division of 20th Century Fox. Back in January, Variety reported that FoxNext bought Cold Iron Studios, who is developing a shooter based in the Alien universe.

Fox has had mixed success with the Alien games it has released in the past. The most infamous game based off the series is easily Aliens: Colonial Marines, which launched on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in 2013 and was almost universally shellacked by critics. It was known for its particularly awful enemy AI, which was amusingly fixed by a modder who found a typo in the game’s code.

The last major game release in the franchise was 2014’s Alien: Isolation, which was developed by Creative Assembly and received much better reviews. The game put players in the shoes of Amanda Ripley, who sets out for Sevastapol Station to learn the fate of her missing mother, Ellen Ripley. The game played more as a horror title, where players had to navigate areas and simultaneously hide from a lone Xenomorph in the station.