Maximum disappointment confirmed - Prey gets a sequel

[Denial]

But... portals are so hot right now.

[ysbreker]

After reading that RPS preview I'm very interested in this game. A future noir setting ala blade runner? Yes please!

[Kolzig]

And then the Prey got axed, maybe.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167202/Bethesda_tightlipped_on_possible_Prey_2_cancellation.php

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-23-prey-2-cancelled-report

It seems to share the same fate as the first part, that also got cancelled after years of development back in the day. Maybe someday it will return again in the hands of another developer.

Does Bethesda/Zenimax own Human Head or are they just a publisher?

[Korax]

Noooooo! This one actually seemed interesting and worthwhile!

[StarGoose]

Man, I really hope this game hasn't been cancelled. It actually looked like it had some potential.

In the back of my mind I just keep telling myself that maybe they cancelled their GDC talk because of Mass Effect 3 being released and they were worried that the games might get unfairly compared. But that is most likely horse crap and the game is in fact dead.

[Orv]

Kolzig, you need to change the title of the thread to "Maximum disappointment reconfirmed"

[Kolzig]

Heh, I think the title of the thread won't change even if I change the title in the first post.

I don't know if vBulletin even allows that, but at least not here at Thumbs. Here we stick by the first thread title.

[Dr. Proton]

New here... sorry for the bump.

 

It sucks that Bethesda got away with scrapping Human Head's work. Jason L. Blair, former Human Head employee and writer on Saints Row 4 said (http://www.aliennoire.com/home/news/former-employee/) "This Prey 2/Arkane rumor is giving new life to a lot of old lies. I'm been quiet about this whole business but can't stay so anymore. I've worked at/with @humanheadgames for years, including different stages of Prey 2 development. I was narrative designer/writer on Prey 2 for the last six months of its development at Human Head. It was a lot more than a demo. Prey 2 was a full game. And a crazy fun one. The team was small but you wouldn't have known it. What happened to Prey 2, from where I sat, was political. And petty. And potentially litigable. Human Head had a great game. I was heartbroken when Prey 2 went into limbo. Human Head deserved to have that game released. Frankly, they needed it.

 

As for Arkane, I've enjoyed what I played of Dishonored. They have the chops. If the rumour is true, they'll likely do well with Prey. But I mourn that Prey 2 won't belong to Human Head. I mourn that my friends won't get recognition for what they accomplished. Instead, they get the same old "Prey 2 was never a game" and "It was just a demo" thrown around. Shameful. And completely untrue."

 

This had to be one of the worst game-related stories I've heard. Bethesda  arbitrarily rejected milestone payments in an attempt to acquire Human Head Studios. They're particularly desirable being one of the few indie studios with ID Tech experience. It looked like such a cool game.

[Twig]

Ugh. It did look like it was going to be a great game. Now I'm sad about its cancellation all over again.

[Salacious Snake]

That's a huge bummer.

[twmac]

Damn.

[Dr. Proton]

The really bad part is that months after Human Head downed tools and negotiations fell through they decided to create a sequel to Rune. A couple of days after mentioning they we're considering the sequel, Bethesda ended months of silence and posted their only Prey 2 update. Talk about petty.

 

"Bethesda "thought they could bully [Human Head] into a corner,” a source said, and the publisher made a move to buy Human Head. “It was one of few studios that could work with and improve id Technology. They wanted to buy us at a sweet price,” but the developer denied the buyout. Human Head didn't want to permanently marry itself to a publisher that was "bleeding Human Head dry. In November 2011, in a play to keep Bethesda from purchasing Human Head, and as a result of the contract dispute, development stopped. One source called it a strike. In the following months, Bethesda and Human Head communicated sporadically, “but the conversation was very one sided. The studio made reasonable offers, but nothing came to fruition. Nothing moved in 2012. Bethesda appeared to wait out Human Head. The contractual agreement between the two eventually came to term, Bethesda got its game back without spending any more money, and Human Head went on its way – the team is currently working with a new publisher on another open-world game." http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/what-went-wrong-with-human-heads-prey-2

 

It goes beyond just a game cancellation into downright cruel behaviour. Human Head's managed to keep the lights on for 16 years. That almost ended because Bethesda didn't get their way. Splash Damage went through similar pains, having to finish Brink out of their own pocket. I guess folks don't care because Bethesda publishes great games.

 

[Dr. Proton]

Excuse the double post. Tons of leaked screens. http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/08/prey-2-leaked-screens.html

 

Didn't Bethesda initially lie, telling the gaming press that the game was just a tech-demo in March/April last year? Happy Quakecon!

[Ben X]

And a bonus Dragon's Crown picture including a sexy witch about to get finger-banged by a skeleton!

[Brannigan]

it's clearly meant as a metaphor for what went on with prey 2

[Ben X]

RPS asks questions about Prey 2, but not the particularly interesting ones:

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/02/bethesda-talks-prey-2-denies-arkane-involvement/

[Salacious Snake]

Excuse the double post. Tons of leaked screens. http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/08/prey-2-leaked-screens.html

 

I like some of the aliens.

[Dr. Proton]

I love the how ugly the Ceros are! Jim Sumwalt and Randy Redetzke are seriously talented art directors.

 

That RPS interview was seriously disappointing. No questions about the developer strike or the failed studio acquisition attempt. Also, it's just wrong in other areas. Human Head was proud of their work. The former head QA said: "I really did love working on this game. It's still one of my favorite shooters of all time." and the day the shots surfaced the former writer tweeted this "Man. Those PREY 2 screenshots take me back. So much fun. Such atmosphere. And I named some of those Achievements!" Just days later when Raphael Colantonio was asked about Prey 2 during a twitch stream he had a different response than Zenimax's PR guy.

 

Fan: “My question is so I’ve heard some whispers you guys have taken over the development of Prey 2. Is that true or if you could give some insight for what’s next for Arkane?”

Raphael Colantonio: “What we can say is that; let me answer both questions at the same time. As you might expect anything that would come from our studio would be in the same genre as what we’ve developed so far. So you might expect a game with a high level of simulation and player choice and were stealth matters and playstyle matters. Consequences to your actions. That’s pretty much what I can say at this point. So yes, we’ll do something.

 

This site has a great run down of recent events and certain inconsistencies with Bethesda's messaging. http://www.aliennoire.com/home/category/news/

[Dr. Proton]

http://kotaku.com/leaked-e-mails-suggest-bethesda-misled-gamers-about-pre-1149092622

 

Leaked emails confirm that Arkane is working on a new game called Prey 2. "Press sneak *****" This comes days after saying this: 

 

"RPS: So you guys and Prey 2? Definitely not happening? I already asked Pete Hines, but just to be absolutely sure. 

 

Colantonio: No. We’ve been looking at where that rumor came from, and I really don’t know.

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/14/arkane-on-the-future-of-dishonored-stories-multiplayer/

[Thrik]

I still think it's bizarre that this was developed in the first place, considering its complete dissimilarity to its predecessor and the original never really being that big a thing.

But now they might be starting again with another developer? Why not just... you know... not bother? It seems below Arkane to even touch this rather than make some sweet new IP.

[Twig]

Is it really so bizarre for a game to have a sequel that has a different structure, even if it wasn't the end-all-be-all of the genre? Happens quite frequently. I feel like the only reason people make those kinds of comments is just because of all this weird buffoonery surrounding it.

[Dr. Proton]

Bethesda paid a pretty penny to buy Prey from Scott Miller's Radar Group. They want to see some kind of return, even it bears little resemblance to Prey.

[Thrik]

Is it really so bizarre for a game to have a sequel that has a different structure, even if it wasn't the end-all-be-all of the genre? Happens quite frequently. I feel like the only reason people make those kinds of comments is just because of all this weird buffoonery surrounding it.

Well in all fairness I was saying the same thing when it was announced (probably in this thread). The fact it was getting a sequel at all seemed kind of weird to me, with it being a really unremarkable cousin of Doom 3 and Quake 4. Its sequel seemed like it was going to bear little resemblance to its predecessor in any way, right down to not featuring the portals that were Prey's only particularly novel concept — something backed up by the recent leaks. You have to wonder who it was being made for.

But to continue pursuing a sequel after the initial run at it failed just adds to the weirdness. Why not just let it go? It was never a really big IP, and it's even less so now. I don't want to see an excellent developer like Arkane wasting their time with trying to pick up the pieces.

[Dr. Proton]

It's so neat to see folks inside of Arkane Austin standing up to Bethesda's lies. That takes real courage. If they're found out, they'll loose their job for sure. I can't imagine what it must've been like for Human Head this past year. Being slandered is bad but if the rumours about how Bethesda and Zenimax are basically mis-using milestones and the lending of money to bleed developers dry happen to be even remotely true that's one of the worst gaming industry stories I've heard.

[Twig]

Well in all fairness I was saying the same thing when it was announced (probably in this thread). The fact it was getting a sequel at all seemed kind of weird to me, with it being a really unremarkable cousin of Doom 3 and Quake 4. Its sequel seemed like it was going to bear little resemblance to its predecessor in any way, right down to not featuring the portals that were Prey's only particularly novel concept — something backed up by the recent leaks. You have to wonder who it was being made for.

But to continue pursuing a sequel after the initial run at it failed just adds to the weirdness. Why not just let it go? It was never a really big IP, and it's even less so now. I don't want to see an excellent developer like Arkane wasting their time with trying to pick up the pieces.

Prey was a very good game and I know a number of people who loved it for various reasons. What makes you think it failed?

 

Also, again, is it really that odd for a game to get a sequel, even if it was unsuccessful? If that was the case, a good deal of sequels wouldn't get made.

 

Furthermore, Prey 2 looked fantastic. Too bad it's apparently being reworked. But if it's Arkane, then I'm optimistic they'll take what was good about the demos shown and expand upon that.