Which means that the studio behind the original Prey (2006) and the out-today Rune II (launch trailer after the jump) has ended its tenure as an independent developer. This is actually quite a fascinating story because Human Head Studios' closure was going to happen regardless, and in a move that can only be described as amazing - Bethesda offered positions to all staff and worked with the team to create a brand-new studio.

"Sadly, we had to wind down the business of Human Head Studios and close its doors, which was particularly devastating due to the passion and creativity of the team we'd assembled," said Chris Rhinehart, Creative Director of the newly formed Roundhouse Studios. "We reached out to our friends at Bethesda for help, and they saw that same creativity and passion in our team. With the formation of Roundhouse Studios, Bethesda offered every employee of Human Head a position at the new company. We are excited our team will remain together, pursuing the work we love, as part of a company we already know and admire."

"While sorry to hear of their challenges as Human Head Studios, we were excited by the opportunity to bring under the Bethesda umbrella this talented, established development team," said Todd Vaughn, Senior Vice President of Development at Bethesda. "We are delighted that the entire staff will remain together and is now part of the Bethesda family."

The team's last game as Human Head is Rune II - which is available now via the Epic Games Store. With the studio figuratively closing its doors as Human Head it points to troubled development and an overall lack of interest in this sequel to a PC classic from years ago.



Human Head Studios was founded in October 1997, comprised of a team of veteran developers from Raven Software. In addition to Prey the studio also worked on the cancelled Prey 2 for Bethesda. No word yet on what Roundhouse Studios will be working on other than news that the team will commence development on "unannounced projects" immediately.