14 DAY TRIAL // Bethesda confirms, after all sorts of rumors and speculation, that Prey 2 is officially canceled, meaning the project is no longer being developed by the Human Head Studios team.
The original Prey game told a pretty intriguing story that placed players in the shoes of a Native American called Tommy, who explored an alien space ship that had crashed nearby. The adventure was pretty well received, but due to problems with its developer, Human Head Studios, and its publisher, 2K, plans for a sequel fell through.
In 2011, Bethesda apparently acquired the rights to the intellectual property and tasked Human Head with developing Prey 2, a sequel that took the story way forward in time and focused on Killian Samuels, one of the characters from the previous game who's now an intergalactic bounty hunter.
The story received various details via a few previews early on and then through various leaks and reports. The radio silence on the project led many to speculate that Prey 2 was no longer being developed, but Bethesda continued to refrain from offering a concrete reply.
The publisher confirms the cancelation
Now, in a rather surprising move, Bethesda's Vice President, Pete Hines, confirms to Cnet that Prey 2 has been officially canceled and is no longer being worked on by Human Head Studios.
According to the executive, the game enjoyed a lot of faith from both the developer and publisher, but it ultimately never reached the standard of quality imposed on all of Bethesda's projects. As such, while it may seem harsh, the decision to cancel the whole game was for the best.
"It was game we believed in, but we never felt that it got to where it needed to be - we never saw a path to success if we finished it," Hines says. "It wasn't up to our quality standard and we decided to cancel it. It's no longer in development. That wasn't an easy decision, but it's one that won't surprise many folks given that we hadn't been talking about it. Human Head Studios is no longer working on."
Bethesda still believes in the series
Hines quickly adds that, while the franchise may seem dormant right now, the publisher still believes in its potential and wants to determine where it can take the story and how it can deliver a new title to its fans.
"It's a franchise we still believe we can do something with, we just need to see what that something is," he explains.
Hines seemingly hasn’t mentioned anything about the rumor regarding another Prey 2 project that's said to be in development at Dishonored maker Arkane Studios.