Lon's Prey Page The game that could not be.

[ The following is a record of rumors and evidence that Prey was in development before it was officially announced. ]

Rumors

In 2002 we heard from Prey again with a rumor from Evil Avatar:

Human Head's Prey Revealed 3/11/2002 2:30:44 PM by Certis
From the Rumor department comes the interesting news that 3D Realms' long dead project, Prey, is back from the grave - this time using the new id Software DOOM game engine, developed over at Human Head Studios and published under the Take 2 label.

3D Realms has since neither confirmed nor denied this rumor.

A CNN article about Doom 3 says an unidentified developer will use the Doom 3 engine in a forthcoming game. id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead is quoted, "It will be a name that people recognize."

Scott Miller mentioned in his blog, "3D Realms is currently working with another developer, with a very similar relationship that we had with Remedy, to create another hit series (or so we hope!). In 2004 this game will be announced..."

Jobs

In 2002, Human Head posted job openings for a level designer skilled in "QERadiant and the Quake 3 engine for an upcoming title".  Again, in 2004-05, the job opening page describes an opening for a "next-generation project using the Doom 3 engine". A game with the Doom 3 engine corresponds to the original rumor.

Domains

3D Realms registered BuyPrey.com on July 23, 2001. It expires in 2008.

3D Realms purchased Prey.com in 2004. It was previously listed for sale at $850,000.

Trademarks

Titles of games and names of characters are usually trademarked so no other games can use them. The nice thing about trademarks is, anyone can search for them online. It appears there is at least some interest in the Prey and Talon trademarks from 3D Realms. Some trademarks have been abandoned, such as "Preditor", "Be Brave", and "Talon Brave". However, a mystery name "Tommy Hawk" is live. "Talon" was most recently filed for a trademark on August 7, 2001, and is still listed as live. "Prey" is listed as live and has last been filed on July 2, 2003.

Partnerships

Liquid Development is apparently working with Human Head on this same project providing character models. From their website:

"H@LY S#!T!! That's what you would be saying if we could show you the dozen characters with normal maps that we created for Human Head Studio's undisclosed project.  We are incredibly proud of this work, and we are eager to share samples.  Check back around E3 2005!"

Hidden Messages?

This image shows the main character of 3D Realms' Prey, Talon Brave on the left.  On the right is the main character to Human Head's Dead Man's Hand, El Tejon. Notice they both have circular belt buckles. Zooming in on the belt, both show white on the left, black on the right, and a circle in the lower right that look like the sun, which all together could be the same old Prey logo?  Is all of this just a coincidence or is someone trying to tell us something?

Now to the left is a screenshot of the El Tejon model from the final version of Human Head Studio's Dead Man's Hand. Now, just where did that "belt buckle" go? It appears the model has been modified since the first picture was posted in January. Is this a cover up? If there was no connection between Prey and this developer, why would this model have to be modified?

Conclusion

Updated: Active development of Prey is nearly confirmed and the game is set for unveiling at E3 2005, according to CNN. If all goes according to schedule, we may be playing a game called Prey with perhaps a lead character named Tommy Hawk, with the name Talon in there somewhere too, by the end of this year.