Grave Gamer News & Views — human head studios

Prey 2 Still in Production, Not Coming Out Anytime Soon

Looks as if the rumors of Human Head’s sequel getting the axe were just that; rumors.  But the notion of cancellation does stem from the very real troubles the studio has faced with Prey 2’s production.

Squashing whispers of cancellation (way after the rumors began making the rounds), publisher Bethesda confirmed in a statement that the game is officially delayed well past Prey 2 ever seeing a 2012 release.  Bethesda admits that
“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."  Yowch.

Human Head Studios is no stranger to delay, of course, as the original Prey hurdled through multiple postponements.  Although, I should mention that Prey was hit with enough delays to its development cycle for it to hibernate through two entire console generations.  I don’t think we’ll be waiting years for Prey 2…But I wonder if that’s what people were saying when Prey was announced for the N64?

Prey 2 isn’t dead and there’s a glimmer of hope in that for sci-fi shooter fiends (even though I’m sure games like Aliens: Colonial Marines and Halo 4 will distract you space farers well enough this year).  I’ll keep you posted.

Has Prey 2 Been Canned?

If this nasty rumor morphs into truth, hard times are darkening the skies over Human Head Studios and their ambitious sci-fi shooter Prey 2.

According to a Dutch website by the name of PSFocus, the mysterious withdrawal of Human Head’s planned presentation at this year’s Game Developers Conference was because Prey 2’s publishers, Bethesda and ZeniMax, intend on pulling the plug on the game.  What’s more, PSFocus claims sources close to Prey 2’s development say an official cancellation is likely to be announced next week.

The original Prey – which began its decade long gestation first on the N64 and suffered severe delay right up until it finally released on the Xbox 360 and PC – didn’t quite catch fire with the gaming public, but don’t be fooled into thinking it wasn’t a solid, inventive spin on the FPS shooter – it just may have been treading well beaten territory a bit heavily for anyone familiar with Doom 3 or the-then-recent Quake 4.

Prey 2, on the other hand, was set to take the concept further, placing you in the shoes of a U.S. Marshall turned galactic bounty hunter in an epic sci-fi adventure that introduced RPG-like elements to round out the whole.  But despite that badass promotional trailer released awhile back, Prey still coasts beneath the radar, and I’m sure its relatively low brand recognition would be a pressing factor if this axing rumor turns out to be truth.  It’s worth mentioning Bethesda struggled mightily at pushing new and unfamiliar IP’s in 2011; perhaps Prey 2 is too much of an uphill battle for the publisher to take on this year.

Bethesda has been reached for comment, but failing to provide one, we’ll just have to cross our fingers and wait.  Best case scenario, it’s all bunk; second best, maybe another publisher will pick up the ball; worst case…pick up a used copy of Prey for three bucks and hold on to the dream.