A cult classic FPS that spent 11 years in development hell with 3D Realms and Human Head Studios, Prey was released way back in July 2006. 3D Realms’ brand management studio, Radar Group, soon announced that it was pursuing a sequel together with Human Head. However, news on Prey 2 eventually vanished… until early 2011, when it was announced that ZeniMax/Bethesda had taken over, with a projected release date some time in 2012 – but this was not the same project Radar Group was producing 3 years earlier. It was something else entirely: an open-world, cyberpunk shooter, set in on an almost completely different alien world. It had very little to do with Prey, but promises of free-form city navigation and non-linear bounty missions sounded quite enticing.
One impressive showing at E3 2011 later, and its future was looking bright… until now. Dutch news site PS-Focus reports that… reliable sources have notified them that Prey 2 has largely been canned, and that Bethesda will issue an official announcement regarding the situation some time next week. It might sound far-fetched, but given that a number of important personnel left Human Head at the beginning of the year, and the fact that all Prey 2 talks and presentations at GDC got canceled last month (in fact, we’ve heard and seen almost nothing on the game for the better half of a year), it does sound rather convincing.
In addition, both Jim Reilly and Video Game Writers contacted ZeniMax, who declined to comment on the story. When rumors regarding Doom 4’s cancellation sprung up, ZeniMax fervently denied those reports. But here, they’re going for the “no comment” tactic, which doesn’t really look good. Still, let’s hope it turns out well for Human Head and Prey 2 in the end. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments.
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