Prey 2 Message Board

It’s always such a lovely rosy feeling, having your time wasted, isn’t it? That’s what it’s looking like Bethesda’s Pete Hines and Arkane’s Raphael Colantonio may well have done to us in the last couple of weeks, when we were told what now appears to be rubbish about Prey 2′s development. When Nathan asked Hines directly whether Arkane had taken over development from Human Head, he replied with a definite, “No.” Seems he could have said “Yes.” They’re so easily muddled. And the emails go on to suggest that Colantonio considers the gaming sites that report on his games to be “press sneak *crag*s” when they stumble on the truth.

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The rumors are true and the quotes dismissing them are misleading you. Arkane Studios is making Prey 2. Officials at the company behind the game just didn't want you to know yet.Read more...

PLUS, MORE GAMING SECRETS: Sony's World War II air combat game? — Monolith and WB working on a Lord of the Rings game that'll be cross-generation? — Gas Powered Games' canceled project: Project Spark?Read more...

Where once Prey 2 burned as bright as an exploding star, it’s now nearly blipped out of existence. Strikes and stall-outs allegedly sidelined the promising sequel for many moons, and talk of cancellation wrapped a rapidly tightening noose around its neck. But then, a twist: rumors rushed from the Internet’s every exceedingly awkward orifice door that Dishonored developer Arkane had taken the reins on the beleaguered bounty hunter because, well, Bethesda got kinda pushy about it. However, as part of an interview during QuakeCon, I asked Bethesda’s Pete Hines about the situation, and he told a very, very different tale.

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Publisher Bethesda is "unhappy" with Prey 2's current state, company vice president of PR and marketing Pete Hines said during an interview with IGN during E3.

"We appreciate that folks are displeased that we haven't had any update or any info on Prey 2, but whatever your displeasure is, you can't even be remotely as unhappy about it as us," Hines said. "We spent years and millions of dollars and a ton of effort trying to help [developer] Human Head make a great Prey 2 game. What we said the last time we said anything was that it's not up to our quality standards."

Human Head is rumored to have suffered numerous setbacks during Prey 2's development. Anonymous sources claimed that development stalled in late 2011, and rumors from last month indicated that Dishonored developer Arkane Austin might be taking over the troubled project.

Hines' frank comments during IGN's interview suggest that Prey 2 is either on the verge of cancellation or a major shift in development. "You don't just keep throwing money at something or going down a path that you're not happy about," Hines explained. "You have to make tough choices. Again, when we have more info on it, we'll be happy to talk about it. That's what I can say for now."

Bethesda's Prey 2 is rumored to be under development at Arkane Austin, the studio behind last year's excellent Dishonored. Kotaku has been tracking the winding road of Prey 2's development, along with fan site Alien Noire, who have both heard of Arkane taking over.

"We don't have any new info to share on Prey 2. We don't comment on rumors," said Bethesda VP of marketing and PR Pete Hines.

Bethesda stopped acknowledging the existence of Prey 2 late last year when it pulled the game from its company site. A few months prior to that the company stated Prey 2 had "not been canceled" after it removed developer Human Head over "quality standards."

The long and strange saga of Prey 2 may have a new twist: we hear that the sci-fi shooter will be rebooted by Arkane Austin, the development studio that made Dishonored. What's more, we hear that at least some of the folks at Arkane don't want to make the game, which publisher Bethesda has been shopping around for quite some time now following a split with previous Prey 2 developer Human Head Studios in late 2011. We first heard this news earlier this week from a tipster claiming to be connected to the project. We reached out to Bethesda, but they wouldn't comment. So over the past week I've been chatting with both the original tipster and other developer contacts in an attempt to confirm that Arkane is now doing Prey 2. No luck. I couldn't get confirmation. So we held off. But today, the Prey 2 fan site Alien Noire is reporting the same thing we've heard: that Arkane's Austin-based studio is now working on the game. What's more, they're reporting details that weren't sent to us by the original tipster, like the fact that the developers at the California-based Obsidian (South Park: The Stick of Truth) were working on Prey 2 at one point, and that the England-based studio Rebellion (Rogue Warrior) turned down the opportunity to make the troubled sci-fi shooter. Both Obsidian and Rebellion have worked with Bethesda in the past. I'd already heard whispers about the connections to both Obsidian and Rebellion before, which lends some legitimacy to Alien Noire's rumor. I haven't been able to corroborate the Rebellion connection, but I've confirmed that Obsidian did indeed work on the game at some point. Rumors had been swirling that the game was cancelled, delayed, or in limbo. It's hard to say what Prey 2 would be now, because what we've already seen of an earlier Human Head vision for Prey 2 is so different than the first Prey. The original game centered around a spaceship called the Sphere. The planned sequel appeared to be a sci-fi bounty hunter game set on an alien planet called Exodus, with more of an open-world feel. But it's been a troubled journey for Prey 2, whose fate has been in question since it dropped off the face of the planet after a stunning debut at E3 2011. Rumors had been swirling that the game was cancelled, delayed, or in limbo. What I've heard from one person connected to the project is that Bethesda hadn't been in contact with Human Head about Prey 2's fate until recently, when they told the team it would be cancelled. According to that person, Human Head spent over a year with no clue what was happening. Meanwhile, the company worked on other projects, helping out on some aspects of the recently-released shooter BioShock Infinite, among other games. According to a different source familiar with the project, Prey 2 was in development at Obsidian, the company behind games like Fallout: New Vegas and Alpha Protocol, for at least a few months. And according to our original tipster—who I've confirmed is indeed in a position to have this information—Bethesda had been trying for a few months now to convince Arkane to work on the game. Last week, the tipster says, Bethesda finally forced their hand: Arkane would develop Prey 2, scrapping all the work that Human Head has done and starting from scratch, with a targeted release date of late 2016. Tipster: Higher-ups at Arkane are telling the team to forget that it's called Prey 2 and just treat it like a new System Shock. Some people at Arkane Austin are upset about this decision, our tipster said, but higher-ups at the company are telling the team to forget that it's called Prey 2 and just treat it like a new System Shock—the first-person PC series that inspired games like Bioshock and Arkane's last project, Dishonored. (Arkane has two studios: one in Austin and one in Lyons. According to our tipster, each of those studios is working on a different game. Harvey Smith, the well-known designer who co-helmed Dishonored with Raphael Colantonio, recently moved to Lyons. We haven't heard anything about what they're developing, but Bethesda has said they hope to turn Dishonored into a franchise.) One might wonder why Bethesda has spent so much time and energy trying to put together Prey 2, a game that doesn't have all that much brand power. One possible explanation: because not doing so would be an embarrassment and a poor return on investment. In 2009, the company made the effort to get the rights to the series after 2K published the original, forever-in-development Prey. At some point, they might like to have a game to show for it. Please bear in mind that we have not been able to confirm this, and although we believe it to be true, based on our own conversations and corroboration from Alien Noire, we don't know it for a fact. We want to share everything we've heard rather than keep it to ourselves. Also keep in mind that if this is true, Arkane Austin is now in pre-production on a game that may not be out for quite a few years. Anything can happen between now and then, and many aspects of Prey 2 could change completely, if the final product turns out to be called Prey 2 at all. To contact the author of this post, write to jason@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter at @jasonschreier.

Remember the "Alien Noire" website supposedly counting down to a revelation about Prey 2? A recent update added a Prey 2 logo and more to the site. The site now also features logos for both Bethesda Softworks and Human Head Studios, Prey 2's publisher and developer, respectively.

Furthermore, the hidden message in the site's source code has been expanded. Previously reading "Tommy needs your help," it now reads "Tommy needs your help with a stranded human who wants to go home." The message refers to Tommy, the protagonist from the original Prey, who plays an important role in the sequel.

You might think that using official logos would substantiate the site's legitimacy, but apparently that's not so, according to Bethesda. A spokesperson tells Joystiq, "I don't know what that is or who is doing it. It's not something we're doing." So there you have it.

The last time Bethesda said anything about Prey 2, it deemed the game as having "not been canceled," though it was no longer listed on the publisher's site. A recent teaser site sprang up with the URL "aliennoire.com" however, and much like any conspiracy theory, all signs from it point to whatever we want them to point to, such as the revival of Prey 2.

NeoGAF users grabbed supposed screens of the site's previous source code that flat-out had the key words "Prey 2" and "Human Head Studios" in it, though the teaser site has seemingly been edited since then to remove those phrases. The cryptic countdown timer (which uses a "South Venusian" font, by the way) is ticking down to March 1. WhoIs registration info on the domain owner lists a private registrant by the name of "The Collective," with a Tahlequah, Oklahoma address, which happens to be next door to the Cherokee Tribal Administration. Coupled with the phrase "Tommy needs your help," which is still in the teaser site's source code, these two clues would certainly hint at the main character of Prey, a Cherokee mechanic and former soldier.

The teaser site might not be associated with Bethesda or Human Head Studios in any way, even if the logo at the top of the page looks strikingly similar to signs from previous Prey 2 screens. We reached out to Bethesda just to make sure we're not too crazy, as there's still no definitive sign that this is entirely legit.

#prey You might be wondering what has happened to Prey 2, the delayed shooter that Bethesda was supposed to release this year. Rumors have swirled that it was cancelled, that maybe developer Human Head Studios is no longer working on it, that maybe Bethesda has just given up. More »

It’s terribly sad that all we seem to hear of Human Head’s ambitious, semi-free form, Blade Runner-inspired shooter Prey 2 is the occasional murky rumour and contradiction about its troubled status. Not so long ago word abounded that it had been taken down the bottom of the garden and shot by Bethesda, which after slightly too long a wait was then officially disputed. We’ve just heard the exact same song and dance again, which I shall report purely because we don’t know owt else about Prey 2′s state of play.(more…)

Bethesda's recent website revamp is lacking a listing for its delayed (but not canceled) game, Prey 2.

"Since we had already announced it wasn't coming out this year and we don't have anything new to say on the game at this time, we simply didn't think it'd be appropriate to include it on the new site launch," Bethesda VP of marketing and PR Pete Hines told IGN. "We chose instead to focus on the upcoming titles we are talking about."

As Eurogamer points out, the current docket of featured games on the site runs through 2013. Bethesda announced in April that Prey 2 had "not been canceled," though said The Human Head developed project didn't its "quality standards."

Do you remember where you were when you first heard that Prey 2 might be dead? Me neither. But I remember where I was when I heard it emerged from the wreckage with a few bumps, bruises, and a sizable slip out of 2012  - mostly because that was yesterday. Bethesda chalked it up to the fact that “development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year, and the game does not currently meet our quality standards.” But why? Incredibly long national holiday, perhaps? Or maybe a hypnotically mesmerizing butterfly? And while those two options sound extremely plausible, Shacknews has a potential contender for third place: a full-on strike at Human Head.

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Bethesda announced earlier today that Prey 2 would not launch in 2012. Rumors suggest development is troubled, with Human Head Studios having suspended work on the FPS since November 2011.

Word comes from a source close to Shacknews, who claims work was intentionally stopped in the hopes of negotiating better contract terms with Bethesda owner Zenimax. Many employees were reportedly laid off as a result, with Human Head aiming to rehire them once the contract was satisfactory. According to the source, the game was in limbo until March, when things finally "soured."

Bethesda claimed the delay was "due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year." Beyond that, the company wouldn't comment on the future or in what shape Prey 2 is in.

No Blade Runner-esque space bounty hunting for you! For a while, at least.

Rumors had been churning a couple of weeks back that Prey 2, the Human Head-developed sci-fi bounty hunting game that more or less shocked everyone by being a game called Prey 2 that looked legitimately awesome, had been quietly canceled. The rumor mill had been churning even earlier than that, as multiple Prey 2-related presentations, including one at this year's GDC, had been canceled very much at the last minute with no explanation.

Well, we can put the rumors to rest today, as Bethesda has announced in no uncertain terms that development of Prey 2 is still very much ongoing. However, the game will not meet its original 2012 release date, either.

Here is Bethesda's entire statement on the subject.

Development of Prey 2 has not been cancelled but the game will not be released in 2012 as planned. The delay is due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year, and the game does not currently meet our quality standards. Prey 2 has shown great promise and we regret disappointing our fans. We have made a substantial investment in game development to deliver the experience fans want. We are determined only to release the AAA game that fans rightfully expect, and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule.

Yikes. Am I the only one reading a little bit of pointed hostility in that statement? Not trying to start any mess, but it's exceedingly rare for a publisher to make definitive quality statements regarding a project still in the works. And even when they do, they're usually qualified by a lot of flowery, supportive language, with phrases like "we're very excited about the potential ____ has to offer" or "we believe this extra development time will help make ____ into the best in class blah blah blah." Frankly, this is as close as I've seen to a publisher publicly reading a developer the riot act in, well, ever.

Whatever the case, Human Head Studios is presumably still hard at work on Prey 2 for the foreseeable future (I'm only guessing, since the release doesn't mention a shift in development duties), and Bethesda still plans to make good on its "substantial investment." Maybe there's nothing to worry about right now. However, if we start reading about a sudden influx of Human Head employees suffering brutal kneecap injuries--after all, you don't need knees to write code--maybe we should start worrying again.

Prey 2 "will not be released in 2012," Bethesda Softworks announced this morning. The game has apparently "not been canceled," but, at this point, doesn't match Bethesda's "quality standards."

Bethesda released a statement this morning revealing the delay. "The delay is due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year," it reads. Despite the game showing "great promise," according to Bethesda, the publisher said it's "unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule."

The Human Head-developed sequel to 2006's Prey had rumors regarding its cancellation earlier this year - rumors which Bethesda refused to engage at the time. Given Bethesda's track record with shooting down cancellation rumors, that put Prey 2 in a nebulous place for the past month.

Prey 2 "will not be released in 2012," Bethesda Softworks announced this morning. The game has apparently "not been cancelled," but, at this point, "does not currently meet our quality standards."

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#prey Despite rumors, Prey 2 is not cancelled, publisher Bethesda said today. But it won't be out in 2012. More »

Word has finally emerged regarding the fate of Prey 2 and the ambitious shooter is apparently still on the run. It won’t be out this year, as previously planned, but it hasn’t been cancelled. Bethesda have this to say on the matter:

Development of Prey 2 has not been cancelled but the game will not be released in 2012 as planned. The delay is due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year, and the game does not currently meet our quality standards.

The full statement is below. I haven’t actually played the game but since seeing it in action and speaking to Chris Rhinehart about Human Head’s plans, I’ve been looking forward to hunting bounties in space.

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Development of Prey 2 has not been cancelled, but its release has been delayed beyond 2012, said Bethesda in a statement today...

With official confirmation still lacking as to whether Prey 2 is currently bleeding out by the bins out the back of Bethesda HQ or if the great hunt will yet continue, one of the many additional questions is what might become of developer Human Head. Sounds like they’re pondering a resurrection of their first game, viking-based brawler Rune. The 2000 Unreal-powered stabbing’n'jumping title is, apparently, a “cult hit classic”, and its official Facebook page has raised the possibility of it getting the sequel treatment.(more…)

A NeoGAF poster has spotted that an announcement about the cancellation of Prey 2 seems to be in the pipeline. No official word from Bethesda yet, but tweets from a Human Head employee seem to back it up. I’m honestly really surprised by this. After Dishonored this seemed like Bethesda’s most promising title, as evidenced by our interview from late last year. It’s hard to tell what’s happening behind the NDA’d doors of a developer, of course, but this will be a terrible thing if it turns out to be true.

Rumors are abound today that Prey 2, the Human Head-developed sci-fi sequel to the 2006 shooter, has been canceled by publisher Zenimax. The rumor comes from a Dutch site, PSFocus, who reports that sources close to the project revealed the cancelation, stating that an official announcement will be made next week...

#rumor Publisher Bethesda may have axed the first-person shooter Prey 2, according to a report from Dutch gaming website PS Focus. More »

Following the story of US Marshall Killian Samuels, acting as a bounty hunter on an alien world, Prey 2 promises freedom of choice in an alien city. At the Eurogamer Expo we got to see two parts of the game in action, an early level with lots of shooting and a later area, about a quarter of the way through the game, that showed a mission in action. There was also time to see the downtime between missions, with Killian involving himself in random street crime and doing some shopping. We caught up with project lead and Human Head studios co-founder Chris Rhinehart to find out what freedom really means in Prey 2, how much of a rotter you can be, whether we can expect additional stuff and release date parity for the PC version, and what failing missions entails.(more…)

#prey Prey 2 game director Chris Rhinehart walks us through all of the many things we see in that amazing Prey 2 trailer from earlier this year. More »

Prey 2’s Game Director, Chris Rhinehart, has been talking through the events seen in the early trailers for the game. There are three separate commentary videos, the last of which hit the internet yesterday. Here’s some thoughts and analysis on what we see, what we’re told and what remains totally unclear. Before you start watching though, one thing that doesn’t remain unclear is the ending to the first game, so if you’re planning to play through first, come back when you’re done.(more…)

#prey U.S. Marshal Killian Samuel goes from alien hostage to intergalactic bounty hunter in Prey 2, and these Gamescom screens show off his less-than-happy hunting grounds. More »

Earlier this week we posted a picture of Dawasi "Tommy" Tawodi checking out the world of Prey 2. Turns out that single image won't be all we're seeing of Tommy in the sequel to the game in which he originally starred. More »

While Prey 2 has players running, sliding and jumping around in the shoes of a new protagonist, one Killian Samuels, it doesn't mean the star of the first game, Tommy, has been taken out back to the space shed and put down, Old Yeller style. Chris Rhinehart from Human Head Studios has told IGN that Tommy will actually play an "integral" role in the story.

"He's a character that you encounter many times throughout the game," Rhinehart said. "It's not just a single cameo where he shows up and takes off. He's integral to the story and events on Exodus. One of the big things is, the unique abilities that Tommy has, specifically spirit walk and death walk, are integral to his role and how he actually fits into the story."

It's that last line that we keep thinking about. In the first game, Tommy was visited by the spirit of his grandfather, who taught him abilities which helped to propel the story forward. Could Tommy play a similar role for Killian in the sequel? It's just a theory -- one that, right now, looks like we'll have to wait until next year to find out is sound or not.