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.

Read more: 'We certainly wouldn't rule out Kickstarter' »

There's no two ways around it, the run to E3 has started. Big news leads off this episode of Weekend Confirmed with Sony announcing a new God of War game in the works for PlayStation 3. One of last year's E3 surprises, Prey 2, also finds its way into the news with word of a delay as rumors swirl around its development. Screen Tear host Carlos Rodela joins the two Jeff's and Garnett as they tackles these stories along with more love for Fez and plenty of enthusiasm for the finger-melting action of Trials Evolution. There's even some board game love worked in there before Finishing Moves brings it all home.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 109 »

News that Prey 2 had not been cancelled, but rather delayed, was relieving to fans of the original. However, why has there been such secrecy surrounding the project over the last several months?

According to a Shacknews source who asked not to be identified, Human Head was not happy with the terms of its contract with ZeniMax, and deliberately stopped work on the game in November so it could try to negotiate a more favorable deal. While doing that, many on the development team were laid off, with the hope they would be rehired if the contract issue was resolved favorably. The process seemed to be gathering some positive momentum until January when ZeniMax's responses all but stopped, causing some of the laid-off Prey 2 team to wonder if the game would ever see the light of day.

Read more: Human Head stopped work on Prey 2 in November »

Queue the dramatic orchestral music. God of War is back, this time in a brand new prequel for the PS3: God of War: Ascension. Then, it appears Prey 2--feared to be canceled--has been delayed. But is there more to this story? Finally, everyone's favorite horticulture combat game gets a significant update.

Check out today's episode of Shacknews Daily.

Watch: Shacknews Daily: April 19, 2012 »

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.

Read more: Game not up to quality standards »

Update: 2:36 p.m. with no comment from Bethesda.

When Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia previewed Human Head Studio's Prey 2 back at E3 last year, he came away impressed with the new direction the series seemed to be taking. Open-world bounty hunting is an intriguing concept, to say the least. That's why it's disheartening that a rumor has surfaced indicating that the game might never see the light of day.

Read more: Possible comment from Bethesda next week »

There's a lot to be excited for in 2012, and the Shacknews staff each have five games on their radar. The editorial team at Shacknews outlines their most anticipated games of 2012 individually. Next up we've got staff writer Ozzie Mejia's list of 2012 titles.

Prey 2

Out of all the games I saw at E3 2011, I never expected that Prey 2 would be the game that grabbed my attention the most. Fast-forward to 2012 and I'm still just as excited about Prey 2 now as I was when I first saw it back in June.

Read more: The rest of Ozzie's picks for 2012 »

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.

Strap yourself in! It's Gamescom 2011; we have a ton of new videos and screenshots for you to enjoy. Be warned, you might be here for longer than usual.

Read more: Check out today's Filter »

When developer Human Head took the wraps off Prey 2 earlier this year it revealed many changes. One of the biggest of these was the apparent abandonment of Tommy, the native American protagonist the player controlled in the first game. And though the designers confirmed we'd still see him in the new game in our E3 Prey 2 preview, he'd been replaced as the main character in Prey 2 by Killian Samuels. He's a lawman who's become a bounty hunter on the planet Exodus, halfway across the galaxy from Earth. But where does that leave Tommy?

Read more: Details on Tommy's role on Exodus »

QUICKTAKE: Human Head Studios tries to reinvent the Prey series with Prey 2. Now being published by Bethesda, Prey 2 shifts the focus towards bounty hunting and interacting with a world filled with shady and mostly-violent aliens. It may resemble Prey to some, but this upcoming shooter looks to be doing something fresh, placing players in the role of a new protagonist.

Though the latest trailer for the Human Head Studios-developed shooter Prey 2 does not feature any gameplay, it's a pretty exciting three minutes and twenty-one seconds.

The trailer begins with a plane being transported out of Earth and crash-landing on another planet. It then follows the game's protagonist collecting bounties on the alien world. The cinematic looks good, but does the game itself live up? We're looking to find out when we see the game at E3 2011, next week. Read more »

Yesterday, Bethesda Softworks announced that Prey 2 will be released for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012. Today, the publisher unveiled the first trailer for Human Head's shooter sequel, though unfortunately it's a live-action affair with no glimpse of the game itself in sight.

We'd heard little of Prey 2 since it was confirmed back in May 2008, until today's announcement from publisher Bethesda Softworks that it'll be released for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012.

Creator Human Head Studios is developing the sequel to its gravity-flipping, mind-boggling shooter upon an unspecified version of the id Tech engine. One can only hope that it'll be the Rage-powering id Tech 5, giving us gruesome and disturbing organic architecture rendered in greater detail than ever. The original Prey used id Tech 4, the Doom 3Read more »

ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Doom creator id Software and Fallout 3 developer Bethesda, has now acquired the rights to the gravity-bending shooter franchise Prey.

While the company has yet to make an official statement, superannutation dug up a document that shows Radar Group transferring ownership to ZeniMax in July, backing up an overlooked report from Duke4.net. More recently, ZeniMax registered the Prey trademark under video games, books, movies, and television shows. Read more »

Following this weekend's inadvertent revelation, self-described "entertainment entity" Radar Group has officially announced the sequel to Human Head's portal-hopping, gravity-bending shooter Prey (PC, X360) and issued the small piece of concept art we posted over the weekend (left). Read more »