The early build of the original version of The Realms portal and first-person shooter Prey was leaked online. With this release, the game gives gamers the opportunity to experience the game, that has never been able to take care of the light of day. The prototype leak in 3D Realms follows a year after a leaker published a prototype of the iconic and long-delayed Duke Nukem Forever game in 2001.
Prey was originally announced in 1995 by 3D Realms. Instead, the developers would allow them to create portals for each other to travel through the games world a decade before Valve began to populate a mechanic with a classic Portal. In recognition of the efforts of Wolfenstein 3D-inspired shooter Rise of the Triad, 3D Realms created multiple prototypes of the game to bring to a better future gameplay and story. While this game was a hit for gamers when they showed the portal technology demo in 1997 and 1998, many technical problems caused a long life of the games. Until 2006, gamers were able to sell Prey, powered by id Tech 4, and a bigger version of portal technology.
User enterthedragonpunch revealed that an early prototype of 3D Realms Prey, commissioned in November 1995, was published on Archive.org. As is the information on archive.org, the build is playable and allows players to change the display mode and use the in-game console. There are also various demos that gamers can play through the console’s command. The leak was uploaded by a user named hogsy, and no information was given about how this build got to him.
Fans of early shooters who responded to the message were pleased with the unexpected leak. One user suggested a former 3D Realm employee could be the source of the Prey and Duke Nukem Forever leaks.
Although all of the gamers think of Arkanes sci-fi as the names of prey, they think of them as game fans of classic shooters, Prey is the game that they’ve been waiting for years. It is unlikely that an early build can live up to the expectations and curiosity of nearly two decades, but for classic gamers it should offer an interesting insight into what could’ve been.