Publisher says it "spent years and millions of dollars" making game, but "we're not going to just proceed blindly with something that isn't good enough."

Bethesda has addressed the long-in-development action-shooter Prey 2. Speaking with IGN, marketing VP Pete Hines explained that the game, despite years of development and millions spent on production, is "simply not good enough."

"We appreciate that folks are displeased that we haven't had any update or any info on Prey 2, but whatever your displeasure is, you can't even be remotely as unhappy about it as us," Hines said. "We spent years and millions of dollars and a ton of effort trying to help Human Head make a great Prey 2 game. What we said the last time we said anything was that it's not up to our quality standards."

"It's simply not good enough," he added. "We're not going to just proceed blindly with something that isn't good enough. We spent a lot of time and money and effort trying to make this thing happen and support folks, but at the same time, you just can•t keep throwing money at it and saying, 'sure, it•ll eventually work.' You have to have the discipline to say, •it•s not good enough. It•s not hitting the quality bar. Why isn't it? We•ve been at this for a while, and what we have is not what we talked about.• So that•s where we are."

Sources told Kotaku last month that Bethesda has started over on Prey 2, removing developer Human Head from the game in favor of Arkane. Hines addressed this report, saying the conversation thus far has been one-sided and unfair.

"I think all of the stuff that you've heard at this point has been from one side of this, and it's been somebody putting spin on it, like, 'here's what happened.' No, that's your version of what you think happened. I haven't heard from anybody yet that actually sat in the room. There are quite a few folks at Human Head that I really like."

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.

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