Designer American McGee is best known for adapting the children’s classic Alice in Wonderland into a memorable video game. His last game, Alice: Madness Returns, was released in 2011. Still available on Steam (opens in new tab)That said, American McGee’s Alice in the 2000s much harder to get (opens in new tab).
McGee has made his intentions clear and public in recent years. He wants to make his third game, his Alice: Asylum, and he has a Patreon dedicated to funding the development of games (Has 3,224 paying subscribers (opens in new tab)). However, the game is not actually in development and is still in the prototype stage. McGee said he plans to release a draft of his script for the game in 2021, but is now trying his best to get his old publishing partner, EA, interested in funding it.
A new video posted on YouTube announces the release of Alice’s 414-page design bible: The Asylum (Thank you RPS (opens in new tab)), currently only available to Patreon subscribers, but should be unlocked for everyone at some point today, along with gorgeous concept art, design notes, and mockups of what the game will look like. .
Then there’s a pretty bare-bones plea to send us a big check. . I think this is the equivalent of a developer texting you briefly to ask why you didn’t return a missed call. , has been clear about the fact that “the plan is to be approved by EA” (in 2021) before raising funds to develop the title. It seems you are late for the date.
The positive element of this is that the video announces development partners for early project Virtuos. Virtuos is a studio that does a lot of porting and support work, but has worked on some very big titles. Most notably, it was behind the excellent PC port of Horizon: Forbidden West, but it’s also working on titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and XCOM 2.
I love Alice’s books and have a few illustrations on my wall and read them to my kids relentlessly over and over again. Also always devoting a lot of time to her McGee’s bizarre and macabre take on her one of the true classics. of children’s literature. As a game it leaves a lot to be desired, but the art design is consistently astounding, utilizing the disturbing and ominous threads that run through its inspiration. I’m not quite sure if this is how EA is funded.
