EA has refused to fund American McGee's third Alice game, Alice: Asylum, and has also refused to sell the license because Alice is an "important part of EA’s overall game catalog".
EA may seem like it's in the business of returning to some of its classics thanks to games like the Dead Space remake, but it appears that American McGee's Alice isn't one of them. Over the past few years, McGee has been trying to get a third Alice game, Alice: Asylum, off the ground, going as far as putting together a 414-page booklet outlining the whole game on Patreon.
Although there's been a decent amount of excitement around the proposed third game, it seems that isn't enough for EA as American McGee has confirmed that the company rejected funding the third game and also refused to sell the license, despite being uninterested in making anything new in the series itself, meaning that Alice is likely to be stuck in limbo for some time.
In a post on the game's Patreon page, series creator American McGee said, "On the question of funding, they have ultimately decided to pass on the project based on an internal analysis of the IP, market conditions, and details of the production proposal. On the question of licensing, they replied that "Alice" is an important part of EA’s overall game catalog, and selling or licensing it isn’t something they’re prepared to do right now."
McGee followed up by saying that he and his team had "exhausted every option for getting a new "Alice" game made" and that there was no other way to get the project in motion now that EA has actively rejected selling the license or funding a new title. McGee confirmed that the design document will remain active, but that the Patreon will be hibernated.
Now that Asylum isn't getting made, McGee has also confirmed that it also means the end of his time in "game production in general", both with Alice and any other new games. Even if someone else somehow manages to get EA to make a new Alice game, McGee has confirmed that he has "no desire" to be involved with it, or any other Alice-related product. It seems that it's truly the end for a third Alice game, at least with American McGee's involvement.