Prey Game Director Claims Bethesda Forced Arkane to Use That Title

Prey (2017) was apparently not supposed to be a Prey game until Bethesda forced Arkane to call it that. Prey was originally a sci-fi game from 2006 that was published 2K Games and developed by Human Head Games. It was well-received upon release and a sequel from Human Head was going to happen under Bethesda, but it was canceled. It’s one of the great unmade games based on leaks and other information that surrounded the game, but many hoped it could still happen one day. It never did as Bethesda ultimately decided a reboot was the way to go, despite not really having a ton to do with the original game.

As spotted by Kotaku, Prey director and Arkane founder Raphaël Colantonio noted on the AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook podcast that he didn’t want to use the name Prey, but was told to by Bethesda. He noted how he was grateful to have the opportunity to make the game that they wanted, but really disliked using that franchise’s branding. Colantonio believed that it was a “sales mistake” to call it Prey, stating that it didn’t please fans of the original game and only made those who didn’t like the original game avoid it. The writer/director mentioned that this situation was part of the reason why he left Arkane shortly after the release of Prey. Colantonio also wanted to apologize to the original team behind the game, feeling it was “gross” to “steal their IP”.

“Our game had nothing to do with Prey,” said Colantonio. “There is a bit of the artistic/creative side that is insulted when you tell [an] artist ‘You know your game? It’s going to be called Prey.’ And you go like, ‘I don’t think it should. I think it’s a mistake.’”

Whether or not Prey will ever make a return either via the rebooted series from Arkane or as a sequel to the original game remains to be seen. Remakes are also a big craze these days, so perhaps there’s a chance that Arkane goes back to basics and tries to remake the original game. Whatever the case may be, hopefully Bethesda has learned a lesson from this situation.

What did you think of Prey (2017)? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.