Alien: Covenant Makes Its Way To Arcades, But It’s Not What You Think

The Alien franchise has been doing suitably well over the years, especially on the gaming circuit, as Raw Thrills has released not one but two Aliens arcade games that have done great, including Aliens: Extermination and Aliens: Armageddon.

But lately, a new title has appeared at Dave & Buster's locations, in the form of Alien: Covenant – labeled similarly to the recently released 20th Century Fox film of the same name. But don't go rushing to the arcade just yet – it's not quite a new title like you might think it is.

Arcade Heroes first reported on the title, with information from Federico Read, who provided the above photo. It turns out that this isn't a new game at all, but rather a repackaging of the company's Aliens: Armageddon release with the Covenant branding.

"Earlier this week a couple of readers sent me pictures of a 'new' game that was popping up at some Dave & Busters locations, all from the NorthEastern US," the article notes. "As it turned out though, this is not a new arcade title but a reskin of Play Mechanix's 2012 release, Aliens Armageddon. The software is exactly the same – what has changed includes both artwork and LED lighting, going from red to green. I personally find it odd that they left the red plastic shells on it instead of making those green but that likely would end up costing a lot more for a project like this. I'm curious to find out if it changes anything on the earnings of the game since the Covenant movie hasn't done too well; I have a deluxe Armageddon and it continues to be among my top five games week-in, week-out."

The Covenant movie turned out to be less than fruitful for 20th Century Fox, only grossing $73 million in the U.S. – far less than the previously released Prometheus – and only $231 million worldwide. The company hopes to turn around its misfortunes with its home release, which is set for August 15th, but hopes aren't looking high for a new entry in the series.

Meanwhile, with the arcade games doing well, we might see another Aliens shooter from Raw Thrills down the road. For now, though, Armageddon and Extermination can easily be found at a number of places.