Union Post No. 2, 1 November 2026

Alien: Isolation 2 Will Get a Physical Release

Cover art for Alien: Isolation 2 featuring the Alien and the protagonist. — Cover art. Photo: SEGA, Steam

Developer Creative Assembly has confirmed a physical edition for Alien: Isolation 2. In a video Q&A with fans, the developers explained they want to remain faithful to the ‘analogue nature’ of the 1979 film Alien, which remains their main source of inspiration. The news comes amid reports that Sony may stop producing physical discs for its PlayStation consoles as early as the beginning of 2028.

The sequel begins several months after the events of the first game, but in a new location: an industrial mining colony on the planet Kurosaki. Instead of the relatively clean Sevastopol station from the first game, the protagonist will face grimy industrial landscapes and harsh weather conditions.

Trapped Indoors, Exposed Outside

The player will again be hunted by a single xenomorph, but expansive open spaces will be added to the familiar tight corridors. Creative Director Al Hope wants the player to constantly oscillate between two fears.

“I really like the idea that indoors, the player will feel trapped, claustrophobic, and genuinely want to get outside. But once they manage to do so, after the initial relief, they will gradually start to feel exposed and vulnerable—and will want to go back inside again,” he explains.

The monster’s AI has been improved: it has learned to hunt in open areas and to use bad weather to conceal its movements.

A Familiar Team, a New Platform

Lead Game Designer James Green said that about a third of the current team worked on the first game, while new employees have brought a fresh perspective. No release date has been announced yet. Alien: Isolation 2 is being developed for PC, Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, and a future Nintendo console, with SEGA as the publisher.

Pokémon Red Prototype Sells for $123,000

A previously unknown prototype of the 1998 US release of Pokémon Red was sold at a Goldin auction for $123,220, including commission. The item is a transparent developer cartridge with flash memory and a handwritten label reading “Red P”.

Specialists from Professional Sports Authenticator examined the first 32 kilobytes of data, finding differences from the final game only in the technical header’s version number and checksum. This did not deter collectors: bidding began at $25,000, and after twenty bids, the price reached $101,000.

Pokémon Red and Blue were the first games in the series to be released in the West, making the franchise world-famous. They came out in the US in 1998 and in Europe in 1999.

BioWare Co-Founder: “The Final Nail”

BioWare co-founder called the sale of the publisher to a Saudi consortium “the final nail in the coffin” for the studio — Greg Zeschuk. Photo: Official GDC, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Greg Zeschuk, one of the co-founders of the Canadian studio BioWare, has spoken out for the first time about its closure, which we reported on in our last issue. In an interview with 80 Level, he described the sale of the studio’s owner, Electronic Arts, to a consortium that includes Saudi capital as “the final nail in the coffin.”

The news reached him while he was out fishing. “I got about ten messages,” Zeschuk recounted. “I came back from the river to my little room, opened my phone, and there it was: ‘Sorry to hear about BioWare.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, hell.’” He disagrees with the idea that his 2012 departure ruined the studio. According to him, the decline was slow and imperceptible, happening along with staff changes, and BioWare’s fate was sealed after EA changed hands. “BioWare makes unusual games that take a lot of time; they’re complex. It’s easier to release sports games every year, and in a way, that’s a better business model,” he explained.

“I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt. The saddest part is for Edmonton, where we came from: we were a kind of beacon of hope, inspiration, and opportunity,” Zeschuk said. He co-founded BioWare in 1995 with two other medical students and left along with Ray Muzyka in 2012, the year Mass Effect 3 was released. Since 2017, Zeschuk has been brewing beer at his company Blind Enthusiasm; Muzyka declined to be interviewed.

Cancelled Horror Game Gets Free Release

Independent developer Brian Clarke has released Playable Archive, a free game on Steam. It is the completed portion of his cancelled horror title, Paranormal Activity: Threshold, based on the well-known film series. When Paramount refused to extend his development deadline, Mr. Clarke chose to walk away from the project rather than release an unpolished game. “I’m a solo developer, and a bad game hits me much harder than it does a huge company,” he explained.

They parted amicably, and Mr. Clarke kept the project materials. Later, publisher DreadXP suggested he release what was already completed. The result is a 30–60 minute “micro-horror” with no save function: a New England couple finds a mysterious object while renovating their home, and the player must perform rituals and speak with the dead. Mr. Clarke admits that after the cancellation he felt burnt out and thought the game would be shelved forever, but this release allowed him to lay the project to rest.

Cyberpunk 2077 on the Rise Again

Following the second season of the anime Edgerunners on Netflix and Update 2.5, which allows for dual-wielding, Cyberpunk 2077 had 187,000 concurrent players on Steam—more than at any time since October 2023. After the first season in 2022, there were 137,000. A sequel, Cyberpunk 2, is in development, and the complete edition is on sale at a 70% discount.

One Hundred Hours as a Banana

Banana Life Sim is on Steam, where the player is a banana in a forest and can mostly just stand. The highest, “divine” reward is for one hundred consecutive hours—over four days. It costs 69 cents, and buyers seriously praise its graphics and plot. Dynamic Games has released coconut, watermelon, and grass simulators. Bananas became a Steam joke in 2024.