As you may know, the first Prey game released all the way back in 2006 -- a decade ago. A sequel for said game was in the works by Human Head Studios, but then was cancelled due to the game not shaping up the way Bethesda, the publisher, wanted it to. Bethesda then announced during its E3 2016 press conference that the series was set to make its comeback via Dishonored series developer Arkane Studios. The game, which is set to release in 2017 on PS4, Xbox One and PC, is a clean-slate, a reboot, with zero ties to any of the previous games in the series: shipped or cancelled.

Bethesda has now revealed to Game Informer, why it decided to bring back Prey, and why it's being brought back as a reboot.

Arkane's Raphael Colantonio revealed to Game Informer that the team didn't start off knowing it wanted to make a new Prey game. According to the founder and creative director, the team knew it wanted to create a game where players were trapped in a small space, being hunted. They then went on to realize that a space station would the perfect setting for such a game. Naturally, this eventually lead to Prey. 

Bethesda's vice president of PR and marketing Pete Hines added that Bethesda liked the core of what Prey was, especially the name.

“We felt like, at its core, we liked the basic idea of Prey and what it represented in terms of aliens and you being hunted and on the run. And we thought it was a cool name. "If you remove for a moment the notion of any game called Prey previously, we just thought it was a cool name that evoked what this game was about."

Hines goes on to add that Arkane only wanted to make the game with complete freedom.

 "In the discussions we had with Arkane, they were like, ‘Look, if we can do everything that we have planned and whatever we want and not be beholden to anything anyone has done – shipped or canceled – and just reimagine what Prey means going forward, then we’re totally on board for that.”

Lastly, Hines acknowledged the series has a history -- and that means something (good or bad) to people -- but ultimately none of that matters as the series moves forward. He further adds:

“Whether Prey is good or bad is going to be entirely dependent on what those guys ship next spring."

Alas, that is how Prey from Arkane Studios came to be. At least, that's the short version.