Prey 2 not cancelled, says Bethesda

But it won’t be released this year

Tarryn van der BylAugust 28, 2012

Following (more) rumours that Prey 2 had been binned, Bethesda boss Pete Hines has clarified that the game has simply been delayed because recent development on the project “has not progressed satisfactorily”.

A report on the Dutch version of IGN yesterday, translated by Beefjack, quoted Hines as saying the game was cancelled – but it turns out something was misunderstood in the process. According to the IGN interview, Hines said that:

I can be very clear about this. At one point, we looked at Prey 2 and decided that in its current state, with all the money, time, and resources we put into it, it didn’t meet our expectations. So we decided to pull the plug from our end.

It was a tough business decision, but at that point it was the right one. It’s never a good thing to have to make those choices. It’s a shame, but it comes with the territory.

Not quite so, Hines later claimed on Twitter.

“To clarify, I didn’t say Prey 2 was [canned]. Gave an interview in English, translated to Dutch, translated back to English,” he said.

It’s not the first time that word of the game’s demise has been around the block. Back in April, Bethesda responded to similar rumours, confirming that, “Development of Prey 2 has not been cancelled but the game will not be released in 2012 as planned. 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 AAA game that fans rightfully expect, and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule.”

Two weeks ago, the game was removed from Bethesda’s product page, prompting new speculation about the game’s development. “We announced the delay in April, and until we’re ready to talk about the game more, the focus on the site is on our upcoming titles,” a spokesperson for Bethesda told Eurogamer at the time.

On again, off again, and on again. Gripping stuff. Stay tuned for the next episode, when we reveal that Prey 2 never existed at all.