EA has trademarked Alpha Centauri, sparking speculation it may be developing a new game in the cult turn-based strategy series.

Two trademarks, first spotted on NeoGAF, were registered on 1st August by EA in the US.

The first is for computer game software, the second for online computer games.

EA has also trademarked Alpha Centauri in Europe  on 2nd August.

EA published fan favourite Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri in 1999. The science fiction strategy game is considered the spiritual successor to Civilization 2 by Firaxis fans.

As noted on GAF, EA allowed the Alpha Centauri trademark to expire in 2009. The original game was recently released on GOG.com.

Some are speculating EA may be readying an Origin release of the original, or preparing a reboot of some description.