id Software May Take Over Prey

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

ZeniMax Media recently purchased the rights to the Prey franchise, however there are hints that id Software may get involved.

Recently superannuation discovered that Bethesda Softworks and id Software parent company ZeniMax Media has acquired the rights to the "gravity-bending" Prey shooter franchise. The document clearly shows that Radar Group transferred ownership of Prey to ZeniMax back in July. The document also verifies recent reports revealing that ZeniMax registered Prey trademarks under books, movies, television shows, and video games.

Last month Duke4.net first mentioned the Prey trademark shift in this post, reporting that 3D Realms passed on the torch to Radar Group on June 22nd. Radar Group was formed by 3D Realms co-founder Scott Miller and FormGen co-founder Jim Perkins and acts as an "entertainment entity to incubate, manage and produce Intellectual Properties for cross-media leveraging in video game and film markets." The "entertainment entity" even announced Prey 2 on March 2008.

Now with ZeniMax taking the reigns, there's a question of whether the company will continue with the development of Prey 2, or if the company will terminate the inherited project and start over from scratch. Joystiq is hinting that id Software will somehow be connected with the Prey IP, although the site remains tight-lipped about the details. Ultimately, both id Software and Bethesda would be fitting development houses to take on the Prey reigns, however the former would be more suited for the task.

The original Prey launched on the PC and Xbox 360 in July, 2006.

Kevin Parrish
10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • n3ard3ath
    Buy Duke Nukem 4 Ever license, and finish it. Oh wait, I prefer no Duke at all than a subpar one. Looking at Wolfenstein, I don't want a DN 4 Ever from id Software after all.
    Reply
  • 7amood
    when I saw the trailer of Prey I thought to my self that I am not into old indian myths and spells but played it for... I didn't have anything else to play at that specific time and am glad I did...

    was pretty good fps game... I admit that I enjoyed it
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    I'm pretty sure ID could finish DN4. It's built on their engine after all. Anyway I think this is a good thing. I don't wait to have to wait for Prey 2 : Eternity :D.
    Reply
  • belardo
    If PREY 2 follows standard 3DR development cycles... that is 7years to infinity.

    But we're know talking about 3D Realms... which nobody cares about.
    Reply
  • backbydemand
    Ok, maybe nobody cares about 3D Realms, but plenty of people want a sequel to DN3D.

    I think the problem with DNF is the IP holder has a "Howard Hughes" or "Rain Man" style tick, with obsessive and unachievable perfection standards. Everytime the game engine or some other aspect gets so far, another game comes out with a better engine and they must just start again.

    The "When It's Ready" mantra is not just wearing thin, it's worn through. Decide on an engine, get the game out, sell lots of copies and start work on another sequel. In the time they have spent trying to release the best game possible they could have released 4 or 5 sequels. The "Duke" image is strong enough to support an almost limitless franchise, but you have to have the game out there in the first place to be a franchise.
    Reply
  • Andraxxus
    Let's hope that it will actually come out with idTech 5
    Reply
  • radium69
    Same here, I played Prey , and was sometimes surprised. You have got to admit the guys over at 2k studios and raven are creative.

    Hope something new will come out soon.
    Reply
  • ssalim
    I tried Prey and I liked it, too bad I don't have time to continue playing that game.
    Reply
  • hellwig
    ssalimI tried Prey and I liked it, too bad I don't have time to continue playing that game.I don't recall the game being that long, I'd hate to be that busy.
    Reply
  • backbydemand
    demonhorde665have you been living under a rock DNF IS NOT usign an ID engine , geeze , chrst it's using a modfied UT based engine whcih is NOT ID , prey sued teh doom3 engine but DNF is UT all teh way and UT is Epic's engine not ID's geeze lol get the facts strait
    Just to clarify, DNF isn't using the UT engine, because the whole project is shelved and the game hasn't been released. Maybe some of one of the many attempts to develop it were started on UT but it hasn't gone any further. Maybe next time it exits development hell and makes a concerted effort it will be on yet another engine. But until the game is released it isn't confirmed with anything.
    Reply