Prey 2 woes

[Mr. Tibbs]

One of my most anticipated shooters is in big trouble. I just thought I would post my incomplete timeline I made over on the Bethesda boards if anyone's interested.

 

March 2008: Prey 2 announced:

http://www.3drealms...._announced.html

 

July 2009: The rights are transferred from Radar Group to Zenimax

http://www.bluesnews...rey-for-zenimax

 

July 2009:Human Head signs with Bethesda

http://supererogator...an-head-studios

http://www.escapistm...anning-New-Prey

 

March 2011: Prey 2 is officially announced.

https://twitter.com/...376651176259584

 

April to August 2011: Prey 2 is shown to the gaming press at events like Park City, Pax, E3, Gamescon, Quakecon and the Eurogamer Expo.

 

The last few previews peg the games release date as March 2012! http://www.geforce.c...-prey-2-cg-pics and PC Powerplay #196

 

November 2011: Development halts on Prey 2 after 2 months of contract disputes

 

We know that Human Head Studios hasn't worked on the game since October/ November 2011.

http://www.shacknews...-since-november

 

2012

February 12th Former HH graphics programmer tweets that Bethesda has cancelled their GDC presentations.

https://twitter.com/...090189958975489

 

March 23rd:

Rumors of Prey 2’s cancellation circle in late March.

http://www.gameinfor...-cancelled.aspx

 

April 20th Bethesda posts this update: the last official mention of Prey 2 on their blog!

http://www.bethblog..../prey-2-update/

 

June 8th: Bethesda confirms the conflict remains unresolved.

http://www.eurogamer...a-big-franchise

And what of Prey 2, which Bethesda announced would not launch this year as planned amid reports that developer Human Head had not worked on the game since February because of a contract dispute with ZeniMax?

"What we said was it was not coming out this year and we're still trying to sort some things out with Human Head," Hines told Eurogamer. "That really hasn't changed. I don't have an update for you on that, other than it's not coming out this year."

Has Bethesda switched developers?

"I don't have anything else I can tell you right now."

 

June 14th: Human Head release Rune Classic on steam.

http://www.humanhead.com/

http://www.neogamr.n...ut-rune-revival

 

August 20th: Bethesda removes Prey 2 from its product lineup.

http://www.dsogaming...roduct-line-up/

http://www.vg247.com...thesda-website/

 

August 28th: Denied cancellation quote.

https://twitter.com/...177087720349696

http://www.rockpaper...ened-to-prey-2/

http://www.vg247.com...e-hines-report/

 

September 20th: Details of a beta phase in December 2011.

http://www.dsogaming...-pc-beta-phase/

According to Steam’s records, Prey 2 appeared on Valve’s digital distribution records on December 17, 2011 in “ValveTestApp72790 Beta” subscription with subscription code “P2Beta”. This could very well mean that Bethesda ran a closed/internal beta phase for this cancelled game. That, or Zenimax was ready to launch the game’s beta phase before it got put on hold….In March, there was another rumor about Prey 2′s cancellation. Contrary to Doom 4′s cancellation rumors, Bethesda did not comment on them. Later on, the publisher stated that the game would be missing its initial release date and was planned for a 2013 release. However, the game was then removed from Bethesda’s products line-up, suggesting that the game has been put on hold.

 

Oct 1, 2012: A rumour surfaces that the game is complete! "We were told the game is done, and if it were to be released for 2013, only a few new adjustments need to be made."

http://thenexusnews....-prey-2/852724/

 

October 15th: Prey 2 ‘Hasn’t Been Canceled, Only in Limbo’.

http://www.ign.com/a...d-only-in-limbo

http://kotaku.com/59...o-designer-says

 

October 17th: Last official acknowledgement from Bethesda.

http://www.nowgamer....m_bethesda.html

We contacted Bethesda's marketing and PR boss Pete Hines for a response and he told NowGamer: "I don't have any updated info on Prey 2. We'll let folks know when we do."

 

October 30th: Human Head working on Bioshock infinite Single and Multiplayer.

http://www.nowgamer....dev_rumour.html

http://www.jasoneldr...sign/Resume.pdf

https://twitter.com/...998202152820737

 

December 6th: Human Head are hiring for an unannounced AAA open world third-person mystery game.

http://www.videogame...rson_title.html

 

December the 13th: Human Head launch their first free to play game Fort Courage.

http://www.facebook....FortCourageGame

 

In the past year, Human Head have been working on an unannounced AAA console game, Bioshock Infinite, Fort Courage and Rune Classic! That’s a full plate. Who, if anyone, is working on the game? Has the game not been formally cancelled due to Radar Group holding partial rights or a contract stipulation ensuring the game is released? Has Human Head given someone the source material (their homebrew version of radiant Headitor and Preditor they've been working on since 2001) to finish the game?

 

Most importantly is the game going to be released?

 

http://www.facebook.com/prey2

[Jetrell]

Mr. Tibbs, you have put together a very interesting timeline. Would you be willing to repost this information over on the Rune-World forums? http://rune-world.com/forum

 

There's been a lot of speculation that Human Head is currently developing Rune 2. https://www.facebook.com/RuneGame I think people in the Rune community would be very interested in reading what you have collected.

[Ladro]

Your investigation on Prey2 Timeline/(non)release, it's really interesting.

 

I liked a lot Prey1, a smart and superior FPS, and IMHO an understimated game (always IMHO, far far far better then any HalLife episode). It was too the first big game that i played on my Linux box, with the famous port by Ryan Gordon.

 

Prey2 has also one of the best cinematic trailer (in "found footage" style) for a game that i remember:

 

 

I really hope that this game will see the light one day.

Thank you for your update, and let us know for any news!

[Mr. Tibbs]

Thanks Ladro and Jetrell!

 

I really appreciate the interest. Bethesda is trying to bury a really promising, nearly content complete game due to contractual issues. I just want this unique game to see the light of day.

 

I'll edit the OP if anything of interest happens

 

Cheers,

 

Mr. Tibbs