Developer Human Head’s Prey 2 is dead, according to rumors. Now a former Human Head employee is speaking out.
“What happened to Prey 2, from where I sat, was political — and petty — and potentially litigable,” ex-Human Head narrative director Jason L. Blair wrote on Twitter. “Human Head had a great game.”
Publisher Bethesda took Human Head off the project last year. Dishonored developer Arkane Studios is now working on its version of Prey 2, according to a rumor from Kotaku. Blair says that story started to stir up a lot of “old lies.”
We’ve reached out to Bethesda to ask for its response to Blair’s claims. We will update with its response.
What happened to Prey 2, from where I sat, was political. And petty. And potentially litigable. Human Head had a great game.
— Jason L Blair (@jasonlblair) June 1, 2013
Blair’s main point of contention is the claim that Prey 2 was just a demo. He says that he mourns that his fellow developers at the studio won’t ever get recognition for what they accomplished with the title.
“Prey 2 was a full game,” Blair wrote. “And a crazy fun one. The team was small, but you wouldn’t have known it.”
Human Head presented its first-person-shooter sequel at the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade in 2011. Many critics were buzzing about the title despite the first game’s lukewarm reviews.
“Development of Prey 2 has not been canceled, but the game will not be released in 2012 as planned,” Bethesda director of global PR Tracey Thompson told GamesBeat in April 2012. “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 triple-A game that fans rightfully expect, and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule.”
We’ve also asked Bethesda what the state is of Prey 2 development. It’s possible — if unlikely — that Arkane could use some of Human Head’s work if it is really taking over the franchise. We will update once we know more.
As for Arkane, I've enjoyed what I played of Dishonored. They have the chops. If the rumor is true, they'll likely do well with Prey 2.
— Jason L Blair (@jasonlblair) June 1, 2013