Despite Bethesda officially cancelling the project, a new rumor suggests that Prey 2 is in development at Arkane Austin and is set for a reveal at E3 2016.

Announced in 2011, Prey 2 was set to follow bounty hunter Killian Samuels but following a troubled development process, Bethesda cancelled the game three years later. Bethesda explained that the game just wasn’t up to its “quality standard” and that although Prey 2 was a game that it believed in, the company “never felt that it got to where it needed to be.”

Although the game was officially scrapped, however, it now seems that all is not lost and that Prey 2 may still be in the works after all. According to a comment by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, Prey 2 is codenamed “Danielle” and it’s a “totally new Prey 2” that’s “not the one we saw in 2011 from Human Head.” The game may even have a different name now, says Schreier, who adds that he has heard that the game is in development at Arkane Austin (the Texas studio of Dishonored developer Arkane Studios).

While this information is speculation for the moment, this certainly isn’t the first time that it has been rumored that Arkane Austin is developing the title. Following the Prey 2 cancellation news, original developer Human Head revealed that it hadn't been involved in Prey 2’s development “for some time,” while leaked emails from Raphael Colantonio (the president and co-creative director of Arkane Studios) also mentioned that Arkane Austin was working on Prey 2 and that the studio hoped to make it a spiritual successor to System Shock 2.

Responding to the Arkane/Prey 2 rumors, Bethesda’s Pete Hines offered a firm “no” when asked if Arkane Studios is working on the game. Hines also said that Arkane Studios was busy on its own project, which has now been confirmed as Dishonored 2.

Those who are still holding onto the rumors regardless – and have dismissed Hines’ words as just Bethesda playing its cards close to its chest – may get good news at E3 as Schreier also says that a Prey 2 announcement will take place at the big industry bash. If that’s true, then Bethesda’s second ever E3 conference is shaping up to be something special, as Dishonored 2 gameplay will be getting a world premiere during the event.

Some have also suggested that new Fallout 4 DLC and even a sequel to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim could make an appearance. So while Bethesda may have a hard time following up on last year’s Fallout 4 E3 announcements, a Prey 2 reveal, along with new info about the aforementioned titles, could blow E3 2015 out of the water.

With Prey 2 having originally been cancelled, it has yet to be officially announced again as being in the works.

Source: Kotaku