The developers behind the new  game have revealed a key feature of the upcoming sequel – namely, that the super-menacing Xenomorph will be able to hear players breathe through their microphones.

In an extensive development Q&A released on YouTube, the team at Creative Assembly also confirmed that will be getting a physical release. However, as fans already know, that release date has yet to be confirmed by the development house.

In addition, the sequel’s developers emphasised that “staying true to the analogue nature of is one of our pillars” in constructing the sequel.

Elsewhere in the Q&A, creative director Al Hope discussed how he and his team are both emulating – and trying to build on – the intense intimacy of the original game, which was originally released in 2014. Set 15 years after the events of the original 1979 film, the popular survival horror game follows the daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s iconic character Ripley as she investigates her mother’s disappearance.

“You have the interior spaces which feel claustrophobic and the player feels trapped, which is super familiar to fans. But we also have exteriors as well where the creature is now learning to adapt and hunt in these open spaces,” Hope explained.

“I really love the idea that the player will feel trapped and claustrophobic in the interiors and actually really want to get outside,” he continued. “Once they manage to do that, after that initial relief and sense of a small victory, they will start very slowly to feel really exposed and vulnerable and actually quite like to go back inside again. And really, playing on that roller coaster and see-saw of emotion and motivation – that’s a big part of what is.”

More details about the game and release date are expected to arrive soon.