In 2006, Human Head Studios and 2K Games released Prey, an alien-themed first-person shooter that had been in development since the mid-1990s. It was a considerable success and became one of the first games many people ever played on Xbox 360, and a follow-up title was announced shortly after launch and planned for release.
Unfortunately, Prey 2 was cancelled by Bethesda Softworks, the intended publisher, in 2014, after development issues that led to the game failing to meet internal expectations. In 2017, a reboot of the series in Prey was released, this time developed by Arkane Studios.
Recently, a spate of videos showcasing gameplay sequences from the cancelled Prey 2 was uploaded to YouTube by a former Human Head developer.
Cancelled Prey 2 Emerges in Dev-Uploaded Videos
Five videos were uploaded to YouTube by David Halsted, a former Human Head developer who now works at ZeniMax Online Studios as a Principal Architect.
These videos showcase prototype sequences, cutscenes, and most importantly, a ten-minute gameplay demo that reveals what we would have seen if Prey 2 had ever surfaced:
Here are the links you need to see the rest of the cancelled Prey 2:
While 2017’s Prey reboot wasn’t a bad game, it wasn’t what was originally intended by Human Head Studios. This would have been a space-based bounty hunter title set as a follow-on from the 2006 game, but instead, we received something of a survival horror title rooted in sci-fi, mystery, and mind-twisting revelations.
Prey 2 originally boasted an open-world setting, while the 2017 game was smaller in scope and offered players a space station to explore, split up into various sections and levels.
In a statement on the cancellation of Prey 2, Bethesda’s Pete Hines (now retired) explained:
It was a 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. 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 it. It’s a franchise we still believe we can do something with — we just need to see what that something is.
It would be another three years after that comment that the Prey reboot surfaced.
Do you wish we’d received Prey 2, or are you happy with the reboot? Let me know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Resident Evil Requiem PS4 and Switch 2 claims have resurfaced
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
