FoxNext Games, a division of 20th Century Fox, has acquired Bay Area-based developer Cold Iron Studios, which will be working on a PC/console shooter set in the cinematic universe of the Alien franchise. The acquisition represents FoxNext Games' commitment to deliver new AAA offerings across numerous fan favorite properties and original games. Here's what Aaron Loeb, President of Studios, FoxNext Games, said in a statement about this Xenomorph-filled video game.

"Cold Iron Studios has amazing design, craftsmanship and development talent that we are excited to welcome at FoxNext Games as we pursue our goal to build a multi-platform, multi-genre portfolio of great games. I am a personal fan of Cold Iron's previous work and all of us at FoxNext Games are thrilled to be working with them as they create an action-packed persistent world, steeped in the mysteries of this beloved Alien universe."

Cold Iron Studios is comprised of industry veterans with a strong record of leading large-scale projects such as Neverwinter, Metroid Prime 3, BioShock Infinite, City of Heroes and many others. Cold Iron leadership includes Chief Executive Officer Craig Zinkievich, Chief Technology Officer Shannon Posniewski and Creative Director Matt Highison. No details have been released about what specific Alien movies this video game may be based on, but there has been talk of director Ridley Scott trying to expand the sci-fi franchise even further, stating last year he was planning six more Alien movies, although that was before Alien: Covenant underperformed at the box office. Here's what Cold Iron's Craig Zinkievich had to say in his statement.

"We believe in FoxNext's vision and we are thrilled about the opportunity to explore an amazing and rich universe. Our background in building online worlds and taking established franchises to the next level in interactive entertainment is a precise fit with our product roadmap ahead; we can't wait to share more information soon."

FoxNext Games' first title Marvel Strike Force, developed by FoxNext Los Angeles was announced in late 2017. The mobile free-to-play title is a squad-based role playing game featuring the heroes and villains of the Marvel universe. Marvel Strike Force is slated to launch in 2018. FoxNext Games is part of 21st Century Fox, and the division will ultimately head to Disney under the $52 billion merger, that isn't expected to be fully finalized until 2019. This also comes just a few weeks after it was reported that the sequel to Alien: Covenant is dead, leading to speculation of a Disney reboot of the franchise at some point. You can read more on this upcoming game over at Variety.