May 2024 was a dark time for Arkane Studios, one of the leading developers known for creating fantastic stealth games like Dishonored. After Redfall’s unprecedented failure, Microsoft decided to cut half of the company, leaving behind a legacy of acclaimed titles scattered across empty offices. Among the victims of this fallout was 2017’s Prey, a game totally unrelated to the 2006 title of the same name or the movie starring Amber Midthunder.
When the news of Arkane’s shutdown broke, a wave of loyal fans was left heartbroken. It never fully sank in for me what Arkane’s closure meant. Only to find out later on that it wasn’t just the end of Dishonored, but also the end of Prey. I had very little experience with either series. I only played the first Dishonored, though I greatly enjoyed my time with Deathloop. As for Prey, I completely missed its initial launch back in 2017. It took me seven long years to finally play it, and now I can’t believe I overlooked something so special for so long. What stings even more is knowing we may never see another game like it again.
Prey (2017) and the Talos I Space Station
Playing Prey for the first time in 2024 scratched that immersive sim itch I’ve had ever since Crystal Dynamics gave up on the Deus Ex franchise. And with that, Prey became the fix I desperately needed.
The derelict space station of Talos I is a living, breathing ecosystem filled with shapeshifting Typhon monsters and NPCs begging for my attention. It felt alive. My time exploring Talos I was an experience that’s hard to replicate. I had to navigate haunting corridors, making sure my GLOO Gun hit all the right spots so I could use it as a makeshift platform. What made the experience even better was how the game provided a wealth of questlines that tested my morality, whether through side quests or main missions.
Like its immersive sim inspirations, such as Deus Ex, Prey doesn’t just hand you one complete solution to a problem. Instead, each challenge can be solved in multiple ways. One penultimate main quest had me choosing between escaping the Talos I station or facing the horrors that awaited. It’s the kind of design that made me appreciate Prey’s quest structure, and it practically begs for a replay just to experience it all over again.
This open-ended structure was enhanced by its cast of side characters, who made my journey across Talos I feel more lived-in. From Walton Goggins’ Aaron Ingram to Benedict Wong’s portrayal of Morgan Yu constantly buzzing in your earpiece, every interaction felt carefully crafted.
Other Games Couldn't Match the Atmosphere of Prey (2017)
Games like Cyberpunk 2077 come close to this feeling, but at its core, Cyberpunk is an open-world RPG rather than a focused immersive sim. Phantom Liberty’s Dogtown scratched that same itch for a while, but it still couldn’t match the tight, interconnected design of Talos I. Cyberpunk 2077 never had me looking twice at a random trash bin, thinking that it might be an enemy in disguise.
When I finally reached the credits and chose the ending that felt right to me, I realized just how much I wanted more games like this. Experiences that just completely leave you in the dark, and you’re left to solve things on your own. That level of design is what made me fall in love with immersive sims like Deus Ex and, to some extent, BioShock. With those franchises now dormant, Prey was supposed to carry that torch.
But with its sequel crushed by corporate decisions, we’re left with a masterpiece frozen in time.
And it’s a damn shame we may never see another game like Prey again.
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