Pres. Kennedy survives assassination in Prey’s alternative history

In new video detailing the history of TranStar — the fictional space program in the upcoming Prey reboot — we find out that the game takes place in an alternate universe wherein President John F. Kennedy survives his infamous assassination.

During the space race of the late ’50s – early ’60s, the Soviet Union comes into contact with “non-terrestrial” life forms while investigating one of their satellites. Judging by the brief glimpse we get of these life forms, they appear to be the same ghostly spider-like wisps from Prey’s Quakecon gameplay trailer.

Following this close encounter, the Soviet Union and the U.S. negotiate a collaboration called the Kletka Program, which served to contain the alien threat. Shortly afterwards, however, an assassination attempt is made on President Kennedy’s life. The attempt fails, and Kennedy returns to office to seize full control of the Kletka Program.

Over the next 20 years, the program evolves into a research facility where American teams study the contained aliens, hereafter referred to as Typhon. Like every sci-fi research facility before it, the project is shuttered in 1998 after a deadly containment breach.

Of course, instead of leaving the facility to rot, the U.S. eventually goes back to revitalize it, creating an innovation facility which launches a technological renaissance. It seems we may never learn. But at least we get a game out of it.

Prey was announced this year at E3 as a reboot for the series and is being developed by Arkane Studios, the creator of Dishonored. The game is expected to come out next year, though no official release date has been given.

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