In November 2011, production on Prey 2 came to a permanent full-stop. Disagreements between its developer and publisher caused a chain reaction that ultimately led to the death of Human Head’s version of Prey 2, the rights to which have since reverted back to Bethesda and allegedly landed in the lap of Dishonored developer Arkane

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“ Prey 2 was the only game Human Head was legally allowed to develop.

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But what happened to Prey 2, and why did political friction lead to the demise and apparent reassignment of an impressive open-world action game? IGN spoke with multiple sources with intimate knowledge of Prey 2 and the relationship between Human Head and Bethesda to find out.Following Prey 2’s impressive showing at E3 2011, 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. Another person close to Bethesda and Human Head shared a similar story.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. The promise, however, was not inked on the contract, so Bethesda had no legal obligation to fulfill it. In addition, a source said, Bethesda was likely concerned with the "dated planning, tools, and techniques" Human Head was using. Meanwhile, the contract didn’t give the creative team any leverage: Prey 2 was the only game Human Head was legally allowed to develop on its own until the agreement expired -- to fill time and keep the lights on, the studio supported the development BioShock Infinite and Defiance. If it were to ever release, the team needed more cash and time to meet the rising demands to adjust Prey 2, which "needed a lot of work" and was "lackluster" from the publisher's perspective.Conflict erupted – Human Head asked Bethesda to provide additional time and money, while Bethesda asked Human Head to meet the criteria agreed upon by their existing agreement. At 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." This would limit the studio's ability to work on its own creative endeavors down the line, potentially with other publishers.Bethesda appeared to wait out Human Head. The contractual agreement between the two eventually came to term, Bethesda got its game back without spending any more money, and Human Head went on its way – the team is currently working with a new publisher on another open-world game.IGN's sources had no knowledge of Arkane taking over development of Prey 2, whether from scratch or where the team left off.When approached for comment and clarification on the alleged buyout attempt, its relationship with Human Head, and contractual disputes, a Bethesda representative said, "As we stated before, we delayed the release of Prey 2 as development did not progress satisfactorily, and the game did not meet our quality standards...Beyond this, we don’t have any new update or comment."If you have any additional information on Prey 2, Human Head, or Bethesda, please email IGN News Tips

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor at IGN. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN