Alien Noire creators aim to be 'leading source' for Prey 2 community activity

Prey 2's future is still uncertain, but that hasn't stopped the people behind Alien Noire, a fan website originally suspected of being a Prey 2 teaser, from wanting to "become the leading source" for the game's online activity, co-creator Alex Dickie told Polygon.

Alien Noire is the work of two dedicated fans and a handful of contributors. The site is home to a petition asking Human Head Studios and Bethesda to finish the game, as well as Prey 2-focused media, news forums and more. Dickie hopes to give the game's community a home.

"There's a real lack of community outlets surrounding the game, with only a forlorn Facebook," Dickie said.

Prey 2 was officially announced in 2011 and expected to launch in 2012. While news on the game became scarce, Bethesda shot down rumors of the game's cancelation in April, citing development issues as the cause of the delay. In August 2012, Bethesda removed the game entirely from its online portfolio. In its absence, creating Alien Noire was the closest way to be a part of the game, Dickie said.

"We're 18 years in since Prey's original announcement," Dickie said. "As it stands, the franchise has set a precedent to persevere."

"Ultimately, we think they're more upset at Bethesda for not sharing anything new concerning Prey 2."

In February, Alien Noire launched as nothing more than a splash page. Its defining feature was a countdown. Digging through the site's code revealed buzzwords Prey 2, Human Head Studios and Bethesda Softworks, undoubtedly linking it to the franchise. But when the site was finally unveiled on March 1, it wasn't what fans expected. Dickie admits that response to the site's unveiling wasn't totally positive.

"On the whole, people we're really disappointed it wasn't an official announcement for Prey 2," Dickie said. "There were a lot of people calling us trolls or liars for deceiving them. In reality, we never said we were an official website. We put up a countdown to the fansite and in the void of having heard nothing official about Prey 2 from Bethesda in a year, people naturally desired us to provide an answer. Ultimately, we think they're more upset at Bethesda for not sharing anything new concerning Prey 2."

Alien Noire's Prey 2 petition is slowly climbing with some 2,500 signatures already gained. Dickie says that though they haven't received any official response, Human Head designer Nathan Cheever tweeted "thumbs up" to the site's official Twitter. Dickie takes it as an encouraging sign.

"I think we're all in the same boat," Dickie said. "We want Prey 2 to see the light of day."