New report says production on long-in-development shooter shifted to Arkane Austin with new release window of late 2016.

Bethesda is starting over on Prey 2, with the long-awaited shooter now penciled in for a late 2016 debut, according to a source speaking with Kotaku.

Development on Prey 2 has reportedly shifted from Human Head Studios to Arkane Austin, the United States branch of the team behind Dishonored. All work that Human Head had completed on Prey 2 has been tossed out, with Arkane beginning anew, according to the source.

This move is reportedly not sitting well with all developers at Arkane Austin, the source said. However, management at the company is reportedly informing staffers that they should not think of the project as Prey 2, but rather a new System Shock.

A Bethesda representative told GameSpot, "We don't have any new info to share on Prey 2. We don't comment on rumors."

Last month, Bethesda parent company ZeniMax filed documents with the United States Patent & Trademark Office to extend its trademark for the Prey intellectual property. A company representative declined to comment on what this could mean for the future of the brand.

Prey 2 was officially announced in 2011, and a playable build of the game was shown off during the Electronic Entertainment Expo later in the year. The game was delayed in 2012 due to quality issues, and a Human Head developer said a year later that the game was in limbo.

Disclosure: GameSpot parent company CBS CEO Leslie Moonves is a ZeniMax Media board member.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Developer says it was "not a hard decision, but a long decision."

Some may have been surprised when Infinity Ward's latest project was announced as Call of Duty: Ghosts and not the rumored Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin explained the studio's thinking process regarding moving on from the series in a new interview with MCV.

"Not a hard decision, but a long decision," Rubin said. "We don't get a chance when making a game to think about the next one until we are done actually making that first game."

"So when we finished Modern Warfare 3, we had this big brainstorming session that lasted for weeks," he added. "Everybody gets to come up with ideas of what we want to do, not just what game we want to do, but moments in games."

Rubin explained that the entire studio knew it wanted to continuing making Call of Duty games, even though it could have made something else. He said the team wanted to build a new universe, with new characters and experiences.

"The easy thing would have been--as we had finished the arc of Modern Warfare 1, 2, and 3--to start a new arc within that same universe. That was the first step," Rubin said. "But due to a lot of the changes we wanted to make with this new world, it really dictated out that we needed to make something that wasn't Modern Warfare."

The result is Call of Duty: Ghosts, the latest entry in the hit shooter series and one that is being billed as having a more emotional storyline. Infinity Ward has tapped Academy Award-winning Traffic and Syriana author Stephen Gaghan to write the game's script.

Call of Duty: Ghosts will launch later this year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, as well as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Major Nelson says Microsoft is putting together a definitive list of answers to lingering Xbox One questions, and that "they look pretty good."

Microsoft has said it is "listening" to the various complaints and concerns surrounding the unveiling of its next-generation Xbox One console last week.

Microsoft spokesperson Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb said that Microsoft is readying up a series of answers relating to key concerns over DRM, the need for the console to check in online, and a perceived lack of focus from Microsoft on gaming.

Responding to a critical statement on Twitter, Hryb said, "I am working on rounding up answers, and they look pretty good. Once I have them all I'll make a post."

"And yes, we are listening," he asserted.

Many core questions about the nature of the Xbox One currently remain unanswered by Microsoft at this point, though the company has repeatedly assured gamers to wait for E3. The company earlier this week tried to calm fears about users' privacy surrounding the Xbox One's new Kinect sensor.

Last week Hryb said that "reports about our policies for trade in and resale are inaccurate and incomplete. We will disclose more information in the near future." A previous report had said Microsoft and the original publisher will receive a cut of every used game sold in stores.

Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg has said the company's E3 showing will "get it right."

For more information on Microsoft's next-gen console, check out GameSpot's Xbox One hub.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

New rideable flesh-eating bat available for purchase in Blizzard Entertainment's MMO game.

Gamers can fly the skies of Azeroth on an all-new mount, as Blizzard Entertainment has launched the Armored Bloodwing creature. It is available now for $25 in the Blizzard Store.

The Armored Bloodwing is described as a "monstrous" flesh-eating bat, "the perfect companion for trips that call for death and destruction."

Once purchased, the Armored Bloodwing will be available for all present and future characters players have tied to their Battle.net accounts.

The Armored Bloodwing joins a growing catalog of mounts and pets that Blizzard Entertainment has made available for a la carte purchase. It joins the Celestial Steed ($25), Winged Guardian ($25), Swift Windsteed ($25), and pets like the Pandaren Monk ($10), Soul of the Aspects ($10), and Cinder Kitten ($10).

World of Warcraft had 8.3 million subscribers at the end of March, down 1.3 million from three months prior. Its most recent expansion was Mists of Pandaria, which launched in September. No new expansions have been announced, though Activision Blizzard aims to release content more frequently to stem subscriber attrition.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot