How Prey proves you don't need an old IP

Which one?

Now before I start, I want to say that I am absolutely thrilled about the upcoming Prey. The trailer looked absolutely incredible, and with the recent news giving us just a tiny bit more detail, I remain very excited and interested. I will also boast about a bias in Arkane, as they're games are just awesome and I love their style of thought and gameplay implementation. Something about their works just resonates with me, and even if they have just two real games I've played, they left me in a way that felt powerful and impactful. I apparently like them and their style so much that I usually spell the word "arcane" with a K by honest accident. Again, Prey looks to continue their brilliance in a different area. The alien bloby manifestation, the corrupted hands, the strange living mirror, its all so cool. Heck the way the trailer was set and done in itself was simply amazing, and is one of the few modern trailers to have me watching it over and over again merely entertained by its existence instead of the product its marketing. However... we really have to talk about that name, the issues its causing, and just how ridiculous it is.

First, lets not pretend this doesn't exist. This leaked email from quite some time ago perfectly matches what is going on. Its not just that Arkane is doing a Prey game, but its the fact that its a thriller set on a space ship, you're mostly isolated in an eerie thriller tone, and there's this unsettling AI. Thankfully its not a straight rip-off of SS, but its still very apparent that the two share a connect, especially if you've seen that email. So lets just call it fact, even if nobody is going to walk out and confirm it. So now we know the publisher made this call, and essentially told them they weren't able to touch a new IP. It would "add risk" in addition to the studio taking on a lot more. We're going to focus on that "added risk" because its fucking nonsense and its actually set them back if the early comments mean anything.

Not the best foresight there guys

So far every single time I see news on this game, its met with comments on how dumb it was that Prey 2 was canned, or how it has nothing to do with Prey, or suggesting this game can't be good because of how different it is from Prey or Prey 2. Now I wont sit here and pretend those comments are right. I'll agree Prey 2 should still be a thing, and I would love to see that game still made as much as anyone, but to sit here and pretend this game is the devil over it is ridiculous. Prey 2 just wasn't going to happen by the looks of it. I don't know if Bethesda did something crooked and awful, or the devs just screwed up big, but some sketchy things happened and Prey 2 was canned quite some time before we got rumors of this game. This is a totally different game. However I'm talking to both sides when I say that. Bethesda, this is not Prey. This did not need Prey's name. Prey wasn't recognized for much other than being an older shooter with a couple novel twists and ideas, then it became an ambitious open world game,and now its nothing because you cancelled it and practically killed the original devs. This has nothing in common with those events, other than using the same name.

By choosing to do this, they've thrown Arkane into a corner where they have to actually go out of their way to clear up how not Prey this Prey is. You've confused, and angered the audience out of the gate, and this isn't a victory for anybody. Then you'll be competing with the name itself to clarify it against the early 2000's Prey, because like with Doom, Tomb Raider, and beyond you've gone the stupid route of 100% copied names. What the hell was the safe bet in choosing this IP? Was it easier to copyright? Was it a widely recognized name beyond those who were anxious for Prey 2? Does it have anything to carry over artistically beyond vague things like an alien on a ship? The clear answer is no. Its got absolutely nothing safe about it, and its just throwing the game out the gate in a hurt state. You've thrown a lie in front of their faces from the very start, and all people are doing now are resenting you for that. How is that safe? Its not, because going with an old IP for the sake of it was never just automatically safe.

Meanwhile lets look at the "unsafe" bet... Dishonored. Dishonored was a new IP when people said new IPs couldn't work. Dishonored was a new IP by guys who haven't had a reputation beyond obscure PC RPGs. Dishonored was a game that visually looked nothing like any trending game at the time, or anything immediately familiar. Dishonored sold amazingly well, is arguably chalked up there as one of the best games of last generation, and has gotten enough acclaim and ideas to encourage them to do a sequel and re-release the game multiple times alongside merchandising and an art book. Now tell me with a straight face why that wasn't good enough for you? Lets compare this with Prey, which comes after Dishonored and at a time where it should be even easier to theoretically sell people on this new game. You don't have many people talking about the success story of Dishonored, the now solid and respectable reputation of Arkane, nor the potential of their new direction and game, you instead have caused people to simply see it for what it is not, because it is not Prey.

This is why people get so cynical and nasty about discussing publishers. Even when they have what they need, even when they make good games and do their purpose, its not good enough for them and they have to go out of their way to screw up on something and get in the way of progress. Bethesda is one of my favorite publishers considering the games they put out, but they're no exception to the fact they do dumb stuff to screw up some awesome games. This was stupid. They catered to some unproved conspiracy that an old IP would automatically save them, but in the end they shot themselves in the foot, and I can only hope the new Prey will do well on its own merits rather than being held back by the ghost of things that couldn't be.