Think again, says Bethesda. However, don't expect it to come out this year.

Bethesda have released a (rather unadulterated) statement in response to the many rumours behind Prey 2. The Internet was up in arms asking whether the game, developed by Human Head Studios, was cancelled after a developer talk on the upcoming game at March's Game Developer Conference (GDC) was axed weeks before the conference.

Here's the official comment:

"Development of Prey 2 has not been cancelled but the game will not be released in 2012 as planned. The delay is due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year, and the game does not currently meet our quality standards. Prey 2 has shown great promise and we regret disappointing our fans. We have made a substantial investment in game development to deliver the experience fans want. We are determined only to release the AAA game that fans rightfully expect, and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule."

As I mentioned above, it does seem like a very unadulterated comment. Unlike a run-of-the-mill game delay, the wording of this statement implies that Bethesda are probably not too over the moon with the progress Human Head are having with Prey 2.

Still, expect Prey 2 to ship sometime in 2013.