Update []:
It seems that since we reported on the emergence of some new footage from Human Head Studios' cancelled Prey 2 project yesterday, the videos have now been pulled offline, with the uploader, David Halsted seemingly removing the videos voluntarily from his channel.
Halsted was a level designer at Human Head Studios from 1999 to 2019, and worked on the original 2007 Prey as well as the cancelled sequel.
When Human Head Studios closed in 2019, he later went to work for the Arkane Studios co-developer Roundhouse Studios, being credited as a lead level architect on Redfall. From December 2022 through to this year, he was an employee of ZeniMax Online Studios, but appears to have been caught up in the recent ZeniMax layoffs a couple of months ago, which perhaps explains why he finally decided to share the footage online.
We've reached out to Halsted via LinkedIn to ask for more context behind the videos removal and will update should we hear any news.
Original Story: A bunch of new videos showcasing footage from Human Head Studios sequel to Prey (2006) has appeared online, offering an extended look at some of the features and mechanics the studio had planned for the cancelled project.
Prey (not to be confused with Arkane Austin's 2017 title of the same name) was a first-person shooter that launched for Windows PCs and Xbox 360 in 2006.
It was developed by Human Head Studios, overseen by 3D Realms, and published by 2K Games, and saw players step into the role of Tommy Tawodi, a Native American former U.S. Soldier who is abducted, alongside his family, from their local bar and taken aboard an Alien spaceship, known as The Sphere. Waking up aboard the spaceship, players are given the task of navigating their way through the complex setting, with the help of portals and special gravity-defying pathways, with the ultimate goal of the game being put a stop to the evil experiments taking place onboard.
Upon its release, the game generated some excellent reviews from places like IGN and Game Informer, and seemed to do pretty well commercially too. As a result, 3D Realms (Apogee Software) immediately announced a sequel was in development the very same year, with this follow-up later being announced as following Tommy as he leaves Earth behind, after being framed for the death of his family in the first game.
Development on this version of the sequel continued for several years, but then, in 2009, the rights to the series were transferred from 3D Realms via Radar Group to ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks and id Software — an event which loosely coincided with Human Head Studios taking a different stab at the game's story that switch out the protagonist for more of a bounty hunter-style figure.
This version of the game was eventually re-announced in March 2011, for a 2012 release date, and even received a demo that was shown off at E3 2011. But the game ended up being delayed the following year, and was eventually formally cancelled in 2014, with Arkane Austin later pushing ahead with its own unconnected game using the Prey trademark.
In the past, some trailers and gameplay footage of Prey 2 have been available to view online, but as of several days, even more footage of the cancelled has surfaced on YouTube, with the former Human Head Studio level designer David Halsted being responsible for these new uploads.
These videos include a look at Prey 2's opening, a new playthough of the Prey 2 E3 2011 demo, a flythrough of the game's Undercity setting, a chase prototype, and a demonstration of its combat mechanics.
You can find the videos over on David Halsted's YouTube channel.