Bethesda VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines has finally broken the company's silence over why there has been next to no official word on Prey 2 for over a year. Talking to IGN at E3, Hines acknowledged fan frustrations: "We appreciate that folks are displeased that we haven't had any update or any info on Prey 2, but whatever your displeasure is, you can't even be remotely as unhappy about it as us. We spent years and millions of dollars and a ton of effort trying to help Human Head make a great Prey 2 game. "It's simply not good enough. We're not going to just proceed blindly with something that isn't good enough. We've been very specific about why, and we've been very specific about the whats. When that gets addressed and changed or whatever, at that point we can give an update. But nobody's disappointment is greater than ours.
"We spent a lot of time and money and effort trying to make this thing happen and support folks, but at the same time, you just can't keep throwing money at it and saying, 'sure, it'll eventually work.' You have to have the discipline to say, 'it's not good enough. It's not hitting the quality bar. Why isn't it? We've been at this for a while, and what we have is not what we talked about.' So that's where we are."
Hines was also asked to comment on the various rumours coming out of Human Head; that the developer had been badly treated, and that Prey 2 had been a full "crazy fun" game that had been scrapped for "petty, political" reasons.
"I think all of the stuff that you've heard at this point has been from one side of this," he said, "and it's been somebody putting spin on it, like, 'here's what happened.' No, that's your version of what you think happened. I haven't heard from anybody yet that actually sat in the room.
"There are quite a few folks at Human Head that I really like. Chris Rhinehart is one of the nicest guys I have ever met in this industry. He's somebody I would consider a friend. I love hanging out with him. This isn't anything to do with anything personal. I love that guy. I like a lot of the folks up there.
"It just has to do more with what the product looks like and if it's good enough. As we said in our last update, it's not good enough. It's not where it needs to be. When we have more info than that, we'll let you know."
Finally, Hines was brutally honest about the choices the publisher has had to make: "Sometimes you just have to step back and be practical about it. What is the chance that we have some amazing, unbelievable game and we're just not talking about it for no reason? Zero.
"This is a business. We do have bills to pay and people to employ. They have families that they would like to provide for. You don't just keep throwing money at something or going down a path that you're not happy about. You have to make tough choices. Again, when we have more info on it, we'll be happy to talk about it. That's what I can say for now."
Were you looking forward to Prey 2? You may have a while to wait yet, it seems. Speaking of waiting, Hines recently teased a new and "really awesome" single player RPG that the Skyrim team are currently working on - but cautioned that we shouldn't hold their breath for it any time soon.
Source: Rheena.com
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