Prey Director Says Bethesda Forced Arkane To Use That Name, Calls Decision A "Gross" Mistake

I'm playing through the game at the moment. I agree that 'Prey' doesn't really fit the theme of the game, which is more survival horror.

The marketing (or lack thereof) probably played a much greater role in the game's lack of success. I don't remember seeing anything about the game before stumbling across it in store and trying it on a whim because it came from Arkane, who I knew to be the same people that made Dishonored.

I just finished the game. Whether the name was intended or not, I think it fits the game since the Typhon are hunting for you. I'm kind of curious what name the game would have had otherwise, though.

I agree that the name made it confusing. The game itself was pretty good though..

Still the best game you've made I definitely agree it shouldn't have been called prey especially since the original is a classic that deserves a real follow up

I don't think the name had anything to do with it. If anything, it gave the game more publicity. Immersive sims are a niche genre to begin with, and while Prey was pretty good at times, it's not even remotely comparable to Deus Ex. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the appeal of a space horror immersive sim with bad faces, Prop Hunt type mechanics and a weird "gloo" gun was not very broad.

The 2017 Prey was a far better game than the 2006 one. Yes, the name connection is confusing, and I'm not sure what Bethesda was thinking, given the game is far more like System Shock than Prey.

Not sure how they contractually obligated him to lie though.

We had a two great games anyway, but the cost of ripping a name for the sake of press or keeping and IP on use was grossly unnecessary.

That sucks. It was a good name, and a fantastic game, but that's some lame publisher interference.

I wonder what he'd have called the game if it'd been up to him.

There you go. If you didn't know devs lie before, here it is. They're instructed to lie and to smile while doing it.

Although I figure people might have avoided Prey because, if they were like me, they kept getting a freeze at the exact same 15 minute mark in the game on every platform they played it on.

As a big fan of both Prey games (and someone who'd be incredibly happy to se sequels for either), it bums me out that this situation with the name played out the way it did.

Still, drama aside, both are excellent games and I highly, highly recommend anyone who hasn't played them but likes atmospheric FPS games to give them a shot. Very different, but every good games.