In the Twitter explosion that hit the minute the embargo for Aliens: Colonial Marines lifted, it has arisen that Gearbox didn't even make the widely criticised single-player part of the game. According to CVG, games industry detective Superannuation spotted a forum post in which an alleged former developer at Gearbox said he/she doubted the game would be any good after a “train wreck” development process in which most of the work was outsourced to a historically “less than stellar” smaller studio called TimeGate Studios, whose website does feature the game heavily.
Here's what TexAgs user “mugwurt” had to say:
Hate to say it, but I wouldn't get your hopes up too high for Colonial Marines. I used to work at Gearbox, and the development of that game has been a total train wreck, going on what, 6 years now? Gearbox isn't even making the game, except for the multiplayer. Primary development was outsourced to TimeGate Studios, which has a less than stellar past.
I hope it proves me wrong, as I still have alot of friends still working at Gearbox, but I am expecting it to be average at best.
If this is true, expect a mix of outrage (on the part of fans who are furious at Gearbox for outsourcing a game based on a canon with such a huge fanbase) and relief (from those who were worried this would put yet another black mark on the abilities of Gearbox itself).
We're not sure if this rumour is true, though Gearbox will hopefully respond to the dozens of queries that have been sent their way soon. But the multiplayer part of the game does seem to be the most successful, if not particularly great itself, so it does make a lot of sense.
