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Bethesda's announced the formation of a new team staffed primarily of the recently-closed Human Head Studios
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
As far as I can tell, there are no reviews of it. I wonder if they sent out review copies?
Prey was seriously a rehash of Bioshock/systemshock set in a bland space setting with uninspired enemies. Prey 2 was literally you being a US marshall who got abducted while on a airliner by an alien race/empire and was stuck on a space colony he had no clue about. So he makes himself useful and becomes a bounty hunter. Game was a first person open world on a alien colony where you could kill or capture your bounties or have them pay you off and get more info on bigger bounties that lead to story beats.
It had a unique traversal/shooting mechanics.
Game was way more interesting than Prey 2017, which was literally took a lot of bioshock elements more than it borrowed Dishonored.
That confirm that they rushed out rune 2 as a cash grab, not even a words on it aside ''we just launched Rune II!''
It's embarrassing
It was being promoted roughly the same time Fallout 4 was going out of pre-production and into full production, and when Todd's team decided their next game to go into pre-production would be the open world sci-fi game Starfield. Suddenly the open world sci-fi game Prey 2 is a problem... but great news for Todd that Prey 2's concept went over so well lol
"While sorry to hear of their challenges as Human Head Studios"
Oh, fuck off, Bethesda. The fucking gall of them with that statement.
Oh, fuck off, Bethesda. The fucking gall of them with that statement.
Stab with one hand, comfort with the other.
I'll give you that the enemy designs didn't hold interest long but "bland" space setting? The futuristic 60/70's design of the setting was goddamn gorgeous.
It had been done before many times with Bioshock. So it felt like a been there done that.
Bethesda and Zenimax are the ones responsible for putting Human Head in dire straits in the first place, and for the exact purpose of acquiring the studio, so this kind of sucks. And Bethesda of course gets to paint itself as the hero swooping in.
I mean what do people expect from a company with ties to the Trump clan. Bethesda/Zenimax are not that high profile (compared to lets say Ubisoft or EA) but have a far sketchier and more controversial history (failed hostile takeover of HH, hostile takeover of Arkane, that whole Occulus disaster).
I mean, I'm all fuck "fuck bethesda" talk, but is this actually all their fault, or is Bethesda actually tossing them a lifeline?
Like, okay, they got fucked over in the Prey 2 days, but then they made some deals, at some point got pulled into Amazon's (failed) game studios stuff -- I think they did deliver a game there -- then they built the awful Quiet Man, and now they are finishing it all off with the reportedly dismal Rune 2. It *kind of* sounds like they have lost a focus on quality over the years, since the original Prey with 3DRealms, and have been churning out soulless pieces of shit since, and their company may have been fucked over many times since by that and others moving forward. It may have been the case that Bethesda had a dirty plan to acquire them, but HH's lack of success since seems outside of Bethesda's influence and should squarely land with others and HH itself. Insofar as HH is dead or dying, getting a new studio with everyone else sounds like a lifeline at this point, even if the sequence of events leading up to this point started with an awful squeezing approach from Bethesda. There's been a *lot* of time inbetween all of this where HH maybe could have gotten out from under.
Also some of the pricing on Rune 2 makes it look kinda "live servicy", which would be a dick move if they aren't planning on supporting it?
Like, okay, they got fucked over in the Prey 2 days, but then they made some deals, at some point got pulled into Amazon's (failed) game studios stuff -- I think they did deliver a game there -- then they built the awful Quiet Man, and now they are finishing it all off with the reportedly dismal Rune 2. It *kind of* sounds like they have lost a focus on quality over the years, since the original Prey with 3DRealms, and have been churning out soulless pieces of shit since, and their company may have been fucked over many times since by that and others moving forward. It may have been the case that Bethesda had a dirty plan to acquire them, but HH's lack of success since seems outside of Bethesda's influence and should squarely land with others and HH itself. Insofar as HH is dead or dying, getting a new studio with everyone else sounds like a lifeline at this point, even if the sequence of events leading up to this point started with an awful squeezing approach from Bethesda. There's been a *lot* of time inbetween all of this where HH maybe could have gotten out from under.
Also some of the pricing on Rune 2 makes it look kinda "live servicy", which would be a dick move if they aren't planning on supporting it?
For those that don't remember: https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/what-went-wrong-with-human-heads-prey-2
Bethesda, pleased with the team's work, promised Human Head a development extension of six months to one year, a source said – all the time it needed to populate the mostly complete game world with missions, polish what rough edges remained, and ship Prey 2 in 2012 as planned. "That's when Bethesda decided to play hardball and buy the studio," said one source familiar with the situation.
In the following months, a source claimed, "Bethesda denied further funding of the project, and started failing milestones," asking for changes and fixes without following through on its previous promise to give the team more time.
t this point, Bethesda "thought they could bully [Human Head] into a corner," a source said, and the publisher made a move to buy Human Head. "It was one of few studios that could work with and improve id Technology. They wanted to buy us at a sweet price," but the developer denied the buyout.
Human Head didn't want to permanently marry itself to a publisher that was "bleeding Human Head dry."
Bethesda, pleased with the team's work, promised Human Head a development extension of six months to one year, a source said – all the time it needed to populate the mostly complete game world with missions, polish what rough edges remained, and ship Prey 2 in 2012 as planned. "That's when Bethesda decided to play hardball and buy the studio," said one source familiar with the situation.
In the following months, a source claimed, "Bethesda denied further funding of the project, and started failing milestones," asking for changes and fixes without following through on its previous promise to give the team more time.
t this point, Bethesda "thought they could bully [Human Head] into a corner," a source said, and the publisher made a move to buy Human Head. "It was one of few studios that could work with and improve id Technology. They wanted to buy us at a sweet price," but the developer denied the buyout.
Human Head didn't want to permanently marry itself to a publisher that was "bleeding Human Head dry."
If they revive what work they did for Prey 2, I hope they use it for a new IP.
I adored the Arkane Prey and would love Arkane to make a Prey 2, not HH.
I adored the Arkane Prey and would love Arkane to make a Prey 2, not HH.
I'd rather HH resume prey 2, and Arkane to stop using the prey name. But that's just me.
Well, since they were the ones that designed a lot of what Bioshock Infinite became visually, and seeing what Bethesda has done for the past few years, they'll be a great asset and should have a LOT of work coming their way.
Prey 2 was gonna be so different from the first Prey that it doesn't matter if they change the name. Hell, I don't care what they call it, just that they make it and make it now!
yes holy shit
I wonder if HH tried to go to some other publishers first, because going to Zenimax after what they pulled with Prey 2? Jesus F.
Except for everyone who played the masterpiece that is Prey 2017
Wait wtf I don't understand what has happened. So HHS is closing and doing something else at Bethesda but these (former) employees listed at the end of this statement ostensibly aren't part of that and are going to try and support the game going forward? Seems like a mess.
Going on that article alone, it seems studio leadership deserve some of the blame alongside Bethesda. Milestones and deliverables need to be really clearly defined. Also, stopping production of a game in progress without a new title agreement seems ill-advised.
Fair enough. However we got to this point, I'm just glad that it exists
Really mixed feelings here. Good that they get to keep working, bad that Bethesda pulled that Prey 2 shit and got what they wanted in the end. Depressing. But also exciting that they might get to ressurect the Prey 2 concept? Urgh.
Also, please stop arguing about Prey 2017 vs Prey 2. It's just a name. 2017 should have been called something different so everyone could get along.
Also, please stop arguing about Prey 2017 vs Prey 2. It's just a name. 2017 should have been called something different so everyone could get along.
Bethesda ain't shit
Zenimax ain't shit
Zenimax ain't shit
My favorite game. Wish it wasn't tied to Bethesda's name.
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Could be very promising, I would have said very promising if we still had the Zenimax and Bethesda that published games like Dishonored 1 and 2, Prey, Evil Within 1 and 2, Doom and so on. When they didn't constantly (exeggeration I know, but close) fuck it up. We'll see I guess.
I'm interested in seeing what happens with Rune 2. Will they really continue work on it or was it just shoved out the door to die?
Also is it really okay to release it in it's current state to unsuspecting customers? There's no review system in place. As of last night there weren't even reviews. I feel like this is just wrong.
Also is it really okay to release it in it's current state to unsuspecting customers? There's no review system in place. As of last night there weren't even reviews. I feel like this is just wrong.
At first I couldn't get my head around why they sold out to Bethesda in the end, because it seems like there should have been other options. But, looking at their output over the past few years it seems like they have been burning bridges with many other companies that could have saved them. The Quiet Man (Square Enix) bombed, Survived By (Digital Extremes) was cancelled, Rune II (Epic) seems pretty mediocre. Almost every game they have worked on was with a different publisher (though maybe they just like working with many different clients?)...
So, next up the chopping block, Nerve Software?
Yup, disgusting. Hope things work out for the individuals from HH, but fuck ZeniMax and fuck Bethesda. Who knows how many successful hostile takeovers they've done
Zenimax/Bethesda Softworks can get fucked. Though, did the people that worked on Prey (2006) and Prey 2 still even work at Human Head?
Well that's a headline I never expected to read after what Bethesda did to them over Prey 2. Looks like they won in the end.
People need to get over the fact that it was called Prey, even though it was completely unrelated to the original Prey (2006).
The most notable thing about Prey 2006 was that it actually got released after being in development for more than a decade, and ended up not being terrible.
I doubt most people buying Prey 2017 would have remembered or even known about the original if it wasn't for people crying over it not being the "real" Prey 2 any time it was mentioned.
I'm all for development of the game to be restarted if the concept can be done justice; it looked amazing. But then, it's easy to build up the idea of a game into something it never was when you only have leaked footage and small bits of information to piece together in your head.
Arkane's Prey was the best game of 2017.
People need to get over the fact that it was called Prey, even though it was completely unrelated to the original Prey (2006).
The most notable thing about Prey 2006 was that it actually got released after being in development for more than a decade, and ended up not being terrible.
I doubt most people buying Prey 2017 would have remembered or even known about the original if it wasn't for people crying over it not being the "real" Prey 2 any time it was mentioned.
I wonder how many of the team behind Prey 2 are left with them, considering how bad their output has been since then.
I'm all for development of the game to be restarted if the concept can be done justice; it looked amazing. But then, it's easy to build up the idea of a game into something it never was when you only have leaked footage and small bits of information to piece together in your head.
I don't think anyone was confused, but there was an extremely vocal minority that got unreasonably upset over the re-use of the name. Many of them still haven't let things go.