The Return of Alice

Alice - Snail Fight

Alice Sequel – Snail Fight Image

Waking up in Shanghai this morning I’m greeted with a flood of emails, facebook messages, and phone calls. The world now knows what we here at Spicy Horse have known for some time: We’re making a sequel to “American McGee’s Alice” with Electronic Arts (EAP to be exact).

Not much can be said about the new project at this time. We are building it here in Shanghai. RJ Berg, who wrote the original and served as Executive Producer on the project, will reprise that role. The game will be delivered on PC, PS3, and 360. More details will come later of course. Until then, you can read the official press release. Or read EA’s official news blurb.

For me and the studio this obviously represents huge news. The original Alice was a good bit of fun – and aspects of the original are still quite compelling. The challenge for us – to build a great game, and a sequel worthy of the original – is real, but not daunting. Over the past few years we’ve assembled a really amazing team. I have full faith in their ability to create something amazing.

For me, this is a dream come true. The project will be fun, the studio can grow (and move – check out my flickr for pics of our new space), and we’ll eventually ship something unique. Lots of potential wrapped up in this news – I know I’ll be doing everything I can to make something great of it.

Check back here or in the forums for future updates. Can’t say I expect there to be much more news for a while – probably months. But if it’s allowed, I try to post some project updates, art, etc.

Also, a quick word of thanks to everyone at EA, EAP, CAA, and Weissman Wolff for everything they did to get this deal done.

And, we’re still looking for a few good people to join the team at Spicy Horse. Check out the hiring section for more info.

Grimm Episode 17: Frog Prince

Frog Crowned

Ribbit! Frog Prince.

Grimm’s Back! And this time he’s brought along a bucket-full of slimy friends. Episode 17 visits “The Frog Prince”, and kicks off the final season of 8. We’re heading towards the finish line… hard to believe we’ve made it this far.

If you’ve not yet had a chance to check out Grimm, or only saw him back in the early days, be sure to play through these later episodes. The team have really pulled out all the stops, piled on all the tricks, and created some truly spectacular episodes. This batch is by the the best yet.

Check out Episode 17, “Frog Prince” HERE.
And check out all the other Grimm fun HERE.

Trilogy & Ultizen in Shanghai

More Western developer movement in Shanghai today: Sherman Oaks, CA-based Trilogy Studios, a developer of virtual worlds, casual MMOs and console games, today announced a partnership with Shanghai-based UltiZen Games in an effort to further expand its online development capabilities. UltiZen is both a developer and development outsourcer for North American, European and Asian companies. — Welcome to the neighborhood guys!