Prey 2 delayed, not cancelled, Bethesda says

After weeks of speculation on the demise of Prey 2, Bethesda finally pipes up with a denial and explanation.

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Update: Human Head stopped working on Prey 2 in November, source says. (Story)

No new information had been available on Human Head's Prey 2 sequel for several months now, leading to plenty of speculation that the game had been cancelled. But publisher Bethesda has finally put those rumors to rest, saying the game is still in development.

In a post on the Bethesda blog:

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.

No indication was given on when we would hear more, but fans of the original should be relieved to know that the sequel is still in development. Hopefully, it won't go the way of Duke Nukem Forever.

Contributing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 19, 2012 7:16 AM

    John Keefer posted a new article, Prey 2 not cancelled, Bethesda says.

    After weeks of speculation on the demise of Prey 2, Bethesda finally pipes up with a denial and explanation.

    • reply
      April 19, 2012 7:17 AM

      Fuck, I hope it's still alive! I am really looking forward to this game.

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      April 19, 2012 7:20 AM

      praise Jesus!!

      • reply
        April 19, 2012 7:26 AM

        [deleted]

        • rms legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury super mega
          reply
          April 19, 2012 7:35 AM

          Awaiting the giant mothership to appear in orbit and suck me up into eternal slavitude, in your good time Oh Lord

    • reply
      April 19, 2012 7:23 AM

      Fucking thank god

    • reply
      April 19, 2012 7:28 AM

      WOOHOO!

    • reply
      April 19, 2012 7:28 AM

      Excellent! Knock it out the park, Human Head!

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        April 19, 2012 7:30 AM

        Pretty unusually open of them to say "It wasn't going to be good enough in time so we're taking more time and making sure it's good." Can only presume the past few weeks were a pretty hair-raising review process for HH or something.

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      April 19, 2012 7:29 AM

      So happy right now :) awesome news.

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      April 19, 2012 7:38 AM

      If it's failing Bethesda's quality standards then it must be in really poor shape right now.

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        April 19, 2012 10:36 AM

        This is what I was thinking.

        Brink, Fallout NV and Rage. Not a very good track record for high quality AAA Titles at launch.

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          April 19, 2012 11:35 AM

          Was there something wrong with New Vegas? I thought it was pretty fun.

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      April 19, 2012 7:39 AM

      This is good, but why did Bethesda sit on this for a month? Why did they let the rumors of Prey 2's cancellation and Human Head's closure fester, instead of quashing it a week later?

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        April 19, 2012 7:43 AM

        considering how it leaked out at the beginning, some kind of negotiating tactic? I dont really know the business structure of human head and bethesda. The tone certainly isnt "fuck yeah this is going to 0wn!"

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        April 19, 2012 1:24 PM

        This + the fact that Human Head started talking about how they wanted to do Rune 2 (gauge market/publisher interest) last week (they're been an unusually taciturn developer throughout the years) makes me pretty sure that they are no longer in charge of this game.

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      April 19, 2012 7:40 AM

      Take all the time you guys need. The premise of this game looks fantastic.

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      April 19, 2012 7:58 AM

      I appreciate and like the tone of this message by Bethesda.

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      April 19, 2012 7:59 AM

      They don't exactly say if Human Head is still working on it or if they gave the project to another developer to finish...

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      April 19, 2012 9:54 AM

      hell yeah

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      April 19, 2012 11:06 AM

      The statement nowhere says that it is still in development, just that it is not canncelled. It could be put on hold, tranferred to another dev studio, etc Very vague statement.

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      April 19, 2012 11:33 AM

      Let's hope the "AAA"game fans expect" doesn't abruptly turn from curious open-ended FPS into a lame linear set-piece shooter in it's final stages.

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      April 19, 2012 11:40 AM

      "and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule."

      Wow what a bunch of bullshit.

      Anybody know what really happened?

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      April 19, 2012 11:47 AM

      The performance of those other buggy titles is probably exactly what convinced them to take some extra time for the polish phase. Glad to know that this is still going to get made. Good luck Human Head :)

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      April 19, 2012 1:38 PM

      Prey 1 took 7 years to make. Prey 2 make this a staple.

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