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TioChuck

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
1,231
São Paulo, Brazil
This didn't come from nowhere, they probably were in negotiations for a while, they probably rushed Rune 2 out just to fulfill Epic's contract, with the contract fulfilled they were free to go Bethesda. Hope they have the resources to do cool shit now.
 

Deleted member 57361

User requested account closure
Banned
Jun 2, 2019
1,360
It was cancelled when a deal fell through for Bethesda to try and acquire Human Head. They then pulled their Prey 2 project and didn't offer them any new project, gave that franchise to another team at Bethesda, and let Human Head struggle until they shut down and Bethesda scooped them up in the end.
I believe the story goes is that Human Head wanted to continue developing the game Prey 2 but Bethesda said 'either let us acquire you or we cut funding'. Human Head said no, Zenimax cut them off.
Sad thing to happen. Hope they at least gets some funds to make the game they want.
 

jett

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,653
This is what these vultures wanted all along. It sucks for Human Head.
 

Refyref

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,025
So Bethesda did manage to murder Human Head in the end. Sad, and absolutely infuriating that they got away with it.
 
Oct 25, 2017
22,378
Wait, Human Head closed?
When did that happen?

Good on Bethesda for finally getting them I guess. Like a serial killer finally murdering his victim
 

Komo

Info Analyst
Verified
Jan 3, 2019
7,110
I hope this is a joke post. That game looked way ahead of it's time. It was more interesting than the Dull PREY we got last year or so. It was close to release. They totally got screwed over by zenimax/Bethesda.
Super fucking shame were never going to get the prey bounty hunter game.
 
Oct 25, 2017
11,437
I hope this is a joke post. That game looked way ahead of it's time. It was more interesting than the Dull PREY we got last year or so. It was close to release. They totally got screwed over by zenimax/Bethesda.

We don't know if it would have been good, we've only seen a vertical slice and HH's track record isn't that great. Arkane's game isn't dull, it's one of the best immersive sims ever made, if not the best.
 

Bradbatross

Member
Mar 17, 2018
14,198
I wish they just let Bethesda acquire them and finished Prey 2. My biggest disappointment this gen was the original Prey franchise being killed and replaced like it never existed.
 

Alexious

Executive Editor for Games at Wccftech
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
909
I hope this is a joke post. That game looked way ahead of it's time. It was more interesting than the Dull PREY we got last year or so. It was close to release. They totally got screwed over by zenimax/Bethesda.

Prey 2 was promising. Arkane's Prey wasn't dull by any means, though. An underrated masterpiece, more like it.
 
Oct 27, 2017
17,973
My brain initially read the title as "Herman's Head", apologies. Still hurts that was cancelled.

We'll see what can be produced from this formation.
 
Oct 26, 2017
3,116
Amalthea
I hope this is a joke post. That game looked way ahead of it's time. It was more interesting than the Dull PREY we got last year or so. It was close to release. They totally got screwed over by zenimax/Bethesda.
Arkane's Prey wasn't dull! And that's coming from someone who didn't like the game, either.

I hope the new studio stays in WI. Shame about what happened :(
 
Oct 24, 2019
6,560
Awesome. BethPub has an incredible track record with engrossing narratively-driven games, can't wait to see what new IP these talented devs cook up.
 

Harlequin

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,614
What happened between them besides the game being cancelled?
Basically, HH was developing Prey 2 for Bethesda, Bethesda liked what HH was doing and said to themselves "hm, we'd like to own this studio but we don't want to pay a lot of money for it" so they started failing HH's milestone submissions for arbitrary reasons and used the failed milestones as an excuse to stop paying HH which brought the studio to the brink of bankruptcy. Then Bethesda's parent company swooped in and was like "hey, looks like you're having a tough time there, you sure you wouldn't like us to buy you out?" HH only just so managed to make it out of that situation alive and maintain their independence. Until now.

So yeah, the publishing side of Bethesda can be incredibly scummy. It's why I've avoided buying any of their games in recent years (which wasn't easy since I actually quite like some of their franchises).
 

Absoludacrous

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
3,182
If that were the case, it seems pretty disrespectful to anyone spending up to £48 on this game without any plan (at least as far as what is announced) for support.

Human Head didn't publish the game, you probably shouldn't be jumping to these kinds of conclusions so quickly.

Edit: Well, they kind of did, but you'd have to untangle the web of seeing if Ragnarok Games still exists.
 

LewieP

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,094
Human Head didn't publish the game, you probably shouldn't be jumping to these kinds of conclusions so quickly.

Edit: Well, they kind of did, but you'd have to untangle the web of seeing if Ragnarok Games still exists.

I hope there is something sorted out, but yeah I've not seen any announcements to that effect.
 

Rowsdower

Prophet of Truth - The Wise Ones
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
16,565
Canada
I can't believe Bethesda won. After what they did to Human Head originally...

Damn. I mean, I would love Prey 2, but the way Bethesda went about this? Ergh.
 
Oct 24, 2019
6,560
Then if anything since Human Heads Prey2 didn't have anything to do with the first one I'd want them to keep on it.

Fair enough. At that point it'd basically just be taking the DNA of that concept and turning it into a new IP though. Which is of course perfectly fine with me, as long as we get more great games, then I'm happy.
 

thepenguin55

Member
Oct 28, 2017
11,797
Basically, HH was developing Prey 2 for Bethesda, Bethesda liked what HH was doing and said to themselves "hm, we'd like to own this studio but we don't want to pay a lot of money for it" so they started failing HH's milestone submissions for arbitrary reasons and used the failed milestones as an excuse to stop paying HH which brought the studio to the brink of bankruptcy. Then Bethesda's parent company swooped in and was like "hey, looks like you're having a tough time there, you sure you wouldn't like us to buy you out?" HH only just so managed to make it out of that situation alive and maintain their independence. Until now.

So yeah, the publishing side of Bethesda can be incredibly scummy. It's why I've avoided buying any of their games in recent years (which wasn't easy since I actually quite like some of their franchises).

Yeah it sounds like the early days of Bethesda trying to establish itself as a major publisher were rough as they were apparently pretty ruthless to most of the developers they worked with.
 

tomofthepops

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,543
Didn't Bethesda (allegedly) purposely tank prey 2 development because they wanted to buy them on the cheap ? Or am I thinking of something else.
 
Oct 29, 2017
2,600
I hope this is a joke post. That game looked way ahead of it's time. It was more interesting than the Dull PREY we got last year or so. It was close to release. They totally got screwed over by zenimax/Bethesda.

What a shitty opinion. Immersive aims are a dime a dozen these days and Prey is one of the best. One of the most original and creative games out there, if you think it's dull you didnt play it
 

Komo

Info Analyst
Verified
Jan 3, 2019
7,110
Fair enough. At that point it'd basically just be taking the DNA of that concept and turning it into a new IP though. Which is of course perfectly fine with me, as long as we get more great games, then I'm happy.
Yeah that would be a pretty great new IP, and honestly unique as the way it was built was quite different.
 

Mentalist

Member
Mar 14, 2019
17,976
Sucks that Zenimax "won"; Good that devs still have jobs.

Hopefully now we can get a brand new "Bounty hunter in a city of aliens" game from Roundhouse.
 

DorkLord54

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,465
Michigan
12th November: Human Head Studios releases Rune 2 exclusively on the Epic Games Store. 13th November: Human Head Studios closes down. What do we think happened there then.

Obv not suggesting going with Epic caused the closure, but we've heard other studios say things like the "money from Epic has secured our independence for the future". Maybe the studio had a lot of debt?

Glad that employees of a studio shutting down will get to avoid unemployment, but feels like there's more to this story.
Their penultimate game was The Quiet Man, one of the worst mid-sized budget games not just of last year but of all time. Not to mention they hadn't had many high-profile projects since being screwed over by Bethesda. Needless to say - Epic money or not - they probably weren't long for this world.

In other words, fuck Bethesda. *purchases four more copies of Skyrim*
 

cowbanana

Member
Feb 2, 2018
13,671
a Socialist Utopia
lol, imagine going to Bethesda after they fucked you over big time. I can't even imagine the pride one has to swallow when going back to the man, hat in hand.

Btw, how is Rune II? The videos I saw a while back looked absolutely terrible.