Human Head 'fully intends' to bring back Rune

Human Head Studios has been dropping hints of a Rune revival. Now that Prey 2 is likely pulled from the studio's slate, the company is being a little more overt about its hopes to bring back the franchise.

"I can't reveal what we've got planned, but we fully intend to bring digital viking mayhem into the here-and-now," Human Head co-founder Ted Halsted said.

Halsted told Neogamr that the recent Facebook poll was to "gauge fan excitement" and learn more about what aspects of the original game they enjoyed most. He says viking combat is "where Rune's heart beats."

He also suggests that the story of the sequel will focus on a more brutal Ragnar, since the end of days (Ragnarok) has come. It will still be a third-person action game, but Halsted says the combat is still "evolving." The company wants to make the game more like modern titles with more tactical options for the action. Plus, thanks to the fan support of multiplayer, he says it will focus on that aspect and clan features.

As for how the studio will fund the project, many guessed a Kickstarter fund was only a matter of time after the word broke of a possible feature. "We certainly wouldn't rule out Kickstarter," Halsted said. "As a developer, we're pleased that there's a wide variety of funding methods for modern projects, from Kickstarter to investors to the traditional publisher model."

While Human Head hasn't officially been taken off Prey 2, Bethesda's delay announcement was harsh, to say the least. It claimed the game had "not progressed satisfactorily" and "does not currently meet our quality standards." An anonymous source told us that the studio had stopped work on the game last November due to a contract dispute, which would leave plenty of time for pre-planning of a Rune sequel.