Yesterday Sega announced plans to fast track a new Aliens Vs Predator game from developer Rebellion for an early 2010 release. At the time Sega said that to accommodate the new game they have "strategically updated the release of the other upcoming Aliens titles." Now rumors have surfaced that may show Sega has some odd definitions of the term "strategically updated".

According to unnamed sources from our sister site Joystiq, Obsidian Entertainment's long-in-development Aliens RPG project has now been canceled with about 20 Obsidian team members laid off as a result. The layoffs have also affected for Obsidian's other Sega published game, the upcoming spy-themed Alpha Protocol. These team reductions could be cause for concern about Obsidian's future existence, according to Joystiq's sources.

The same story claims that Gearbox Software's FPS Aliens: Colonial Marines had its funding cut a while ago. Several months ago Gearbox head Randy Pitchford tried to head off rumors that the game was in fact canceled but this new development may mean the game is still in development trouble. Sega and Gearbox have not yet commented on these rumors while an Obsidian spokesperson would not comment to Joystiq about the reports.