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SHOCKING NEWS: Bethesda "finally" confirms that Human Head's Prey 2 is cancelled

It's really weird that the "quality wasn't up to their standards," given Bethesda's track record as a publisher. The game must have really been in shambles beyond that initial demo.

I don't mean that to be snarky, just that a lot of their output has been clearly B-tier and below stuff like WET and whatnot. Either they were (or still are) trying to be more discerning as a publisher, or Prey 2 was looking worse than their output around that time.
 

jschreier

Member
Do you think it's likely that they've decided to rebrand the game completely instead of using the Prey 2 title though? Especially after all that press sneak fuck stuff. Lol.
I don't know. On one hand, it's not like "Prey" is a franchise that millions of people love and can't wait to see again. On the other hand, Bethesda spent money to buy the IP, and I imagine they're not content to just let it go to waste.

Either way, "Bethesda confirms Prey 2 cancelled" is a misleading and incorrect headline.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
I'm still expecting this concept to show up as a new IP. Makes way more sense than using the Prey IP and this PR seems carefully worded to specifically refer to the title and Human Head.
 
That's a shame, because I enjoyed what I played of the first game. I got sidetracked with too many rentals at the time, though, and have yet to finish it.
 
It's really weird that the "quality wasn't up to their standards," given Bethesda's track record as a publisher. The game must have really been in shambles beyond that initial demo.

I don't mean that to be snarky, just that a lot of their output has been clearly B-tier and below stuff like WET and whatnot. Either they were (or still are) trying to be more discerning as a publisher, or Prey 2 was looking worse than their output around that time.

I know I'm spamming this thread, but the link in the OP discusses what "quality wasn't up to their standards" means, not to mention other tidbits strewn through the rest of the thread
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
It's really weird that the "quality wasn't up to their standards," given Bethesda's track record as a publisher. The game must have really been in shambles beyond that initial demo.

They're talking shit in order to disparage HH, that's all. They've also (indirectly) claimed the Prey 2 gameplay demo was staged and was the only thing that ever existed, which former HH dudes all swear is untrue.

Hard to prove either way, of course, but there are lots of independent sources whose experiences with Bethesda/Zenimax have been similar to what HH described.
 

duckroll

Member
I don't know. On one hand, it's not like "Prey" is a franchise that millions of people love and can't wait to see again. On the other hand, Bethesda spent money to buy the IP, and I imagine they're not content to just let it go to waste.

Either way, "Bethesda confirms Prey 2 cancelled" is a misleading and incorrect headline.

Yeah it's always been this really weird thing which didn't make much sense to me. Prey isn't a super franchise which has a dedicated fanbase waiting for the next big thing. The only reason it seems to remain in use is because Bethesda doesn't want to admit they wasted money on a worthless thing.
 

Creaking

He touched the black heart of a mod
Dang darn dungit, this blows.

That E3 trailer had me so exciting... it all looked so... realized. Sha sha sha sha sha shame.
 

KissVibes

Banned
Prey wasn't worthless.

I really wish Human Head got to take their work elsewhere. It's a fucking travesty COOL GUY ALIEN BOUNTY-HUNTER VIDEO GAME isn't happening and that they had to pick up work on Minimum, a failed TimeGate project Square Enix was footing the bill for until Timegate went under. Then Atari bought the rights to Minimum and got Human Head on it...
 
FUCK.

FUCK.

Of all the games that were in development, this is the one I wanted to see the most.

FUCK.

No need for spoilers my friend. I think news of this game falling apart and STALKER 2 getting cancelled was only a few weeks apart... my two most wanted games, that was rough!
 

duckroll

Member
Prey wasn't worthless.

That's not what I said. The Prey IP is worthless in the sense that it has no real draw on its own. This is not a knock on Prey as a game, but that for a big publisher looking to use it to make games which by all accounts are nothing at all like the original, there is no value is attaching Prey as an existing brand on it rather than making a new IP. There are no savings in the creative or marketing areas.
 
There are accounts from various developers/people that Bethesda's publishing side will provide a vague set of milestones that need to be met, then, once development has progressed far enough, they'll arbitrarily say development isn't up to snuff and will threaten to cancel the project unless the developer sells themselves to Bethesda.

Human Head decided to have a strike of sorts after this "proposal" and that ended up causing their version of Prey 2 to be canceled.
This post is also relevant.
 
Too bad. The demo shown at E3 looked damn good.

The story of the Prey franchises life. Even the original Prey looked amazing at E3 1998 and that version was cancelled a couple years later.

Both Prey 1 and 2 have had troublesome development history. The original Prey was first announced in 1995 with Tom Hall as the lead designer. The original concept for the main protagonist to be native american was his idea along with the original storyline that was used in the final game. But the original Prey went through multiple restarts and had multiple team walkouts before 3D Realms handed off development to Human Head.

Prey 2 seems to be having the same fate, and has been rumored to have gone through at least one restart and studio change as well. Shame it was cancelled as it looked pretty cool.
 

The Giant

Banned
I wonder if that rumoured Human Head collaboration with nintendo is still happening or that nintendo canned it.
 

bigjig

Member
That's a shame, the game looked awesome back when it was first revealed but it must've been horrendous if it didn't even meet Bethesda's quality standards.
 
I wonder if that rumoured Human Head collaboration with nintendo is still happening or that nintendo canned it.

what


no stop. don't instill hope in me or else my mind will start to race





what if HH still has code for their build of Prey 2 and with Ninntendo's help, are able to rework it into a first-person Metroid bounty hunting game since Samus is a bounty hunter and you fight a well-designed Ridley and Samus is no longer poorly characterized like she was in Other:M

This post is also relevant.

Like that vase-breaking scene from Samurai Champloo
 
I wonder if that rumoured Human Head collaboration with nintendo is still happening or that nintendo canned it.

Apparently that ended some time before it was even found out. The last game they worked on was the Wii U version of Arkham Origins though. Would be hilarious though incredibly unlikely if they took their ideas for Prey 2 and made a Metroid game. They both involve space bounty hunters.
 
There are accounts from various developers/people that Bethesda's publishing side will provide a vague set of milestones that need to be met, then, once development has progressed far enough, they'll arbitrarily say development isn't up to snuff and will threaten to cancel the project unless the developer sells themselves to Bethesda.

Human Head decided to have a strike of sorts after this "proposal" and that ended up causing their version of Prey 2 to be canceled.

This post is also relevant.

Yeah, bethesda has been pulling this shit for years if you pay attention.
 
Apparently that ended some time before it was even found out. The last game they worked on was the Wii U version of Arkham Origins though. Would be hilarious though incredibly unlikely if they took their ideas for Prey 2 and made a Metroid game. They both involve space bounty hunters.

That would kind of sort of be the best thing ever.
 

Daverid

Member
I never played the original Prey, and the Gameplay in that Prey 2 demo looked acceptable but nothing incredible.
What I just loved was the Aesthetic. Such a fucking cool Cyberpunk/Sci-Fi vibe and it looked like there was some real potential in regards to your interaction with NPC's in the world (And actual Gameplay interaction, like not just telling a guy "No" but then actually being able to just shoot him in the face as your answer).
I thought it was pretty much well known that Prey 2 by Human's Head was gone.

I didn't however know that Arkane was now working on it... I just hope they don't lose that cool aesthetic, because that was really the big aspect that drew my attention for the game. Nothing would be worse than watching them turn it into Dishonored in space, even if the Dishonored artstyle is awesome, I feel it wouldn't really work with the Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk aesthetic.
 

MYeager

Member
It's a shame because the E3 video from years back showed the potential for an amazing space bounty hunter game and then...nothing...canceled...different studio...nothing...then whatever the heck this article is.

I still would love a game that could even come close to fulfilling the potential of that original demonstration.
 

Grief.exe

Member
It's really weird that the "quality wasn't up to their standards," given Bethesda's track record as a publisher. The game must have really been in shambles beyond that initial demo.

I don't mean that to be snarky, just that a lot of their output has been clearly B-tier and below stuff like WET and whatnot. Either they were (or still are) trying to be more discerning as a publisher, or Prey 2 was looking worse than their output around that time.

The quality was fine, Human Head just successfully resisted a hostile takeover attempt.
 
what if HH still has code for their build of Prey 2 and with Ninntendo's help, are able to rework it into a first-person Metroid bounty hunting game since Samus is a bounty hunter and you fight a well-designed Ridley and Samus is no longer poorly characterized like she was in Other:M

No, stop. Please don't do this :(
 

Eusis

Member
The quality was fine, Human Head just successfully resisted a hostile takeover attempt.
Yeah, it's important to remember that not only is that a convenient excuse ("doesn't meet quality standards") but it's highly subjective anyway. Who knows how the game could've turned out, but Bethesda didn't have the best track record in the past whether for quality OR developer relations.
 
No, stop. Please don't do this :(

AND THEN YOU could call in Samus' gunship for cover or quick-travel between the different hubs/planets and there could be a plotline revealing Sylux's plans with samus and a mysterious rival bounty hunter who keeps beating Samus to the punch who's later revealed to be Captain Falcon of F-Zero and then they team up which ties directly into Platinum's Falcon character action game
 

Casimir

Unconfirmed Member
Speaking of Prey, is there anywhere I can buy the first game digitally on PC? It's not up on Steam :/

At this juncture, you have to purchase a physical copy of the PC version. The included serial key can be used to add a digital copy to steam.
 

Piggus

Member
I don't mind that much since it wasn't really the sequel people wanted. The end of Prey was such a god damn cocktease of a cliffhanger.
 

Mr. Tibbs

Member
The quality was fine, Human Head just successfully resisted a hostile takeover attempt.

That's right.

I wonder why the chose to announce this now after dodging the question for 2 & 1/2 years?

They've pulled the Facebook page and official forum. IGN Story.

Hines was unable to share the date or timeframe for the cancellation. He added that Bethesda believes Prey is “still a cool universe worth exploring” but it isn’t currently clear as far as how or when Bethesda would do another Prey game.
 
Well...fuck you, Bethesda.

Cunts.

The Prey 2 demo from Human Head looked incredible. If you hadn't been such tremendous cunts, we'd probably be all be talking about how much we're looking forward to Prey 3...
 
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