PREY (2006) reborn — open-source, modern platform, classic feel.
Features • Installation • Building • Documentation • Credits
OpenPREY is a free, open-source replacement for PREY (2006) that brings your classic game into the modern era. Built on the shoulders of Quake4Doom, it keeps everything you love about the original — the brutal combat, the tight gameplay, the iconic atmosphere — and layers on a fresh set of visuals and quality-of-life upgrades that make it feel right at home on today's hardware.
Plug in a controller and play from the couch, enjoy crisp widescreen and ultrawide support, or push the visuals further with HDR rendering, dynamic shadow maps, and a suite of post-processing effects. The best part? It all runs on your existing copy of PREY — no new assets, no subscription, just your game looking and playing better than ever.
OpenPREY is under active development, with a maintained Issues tracker. Despite the remaining issues, it provides what is to date by far the most developed and refined custom source port available.
Run your existing copy of Prey on modern hardware across Windows, Linux, and macOS — without changing the game you remember.
Note
OpenPrey does not include game assets. You must own a legitimate copy of Prey (2006) to play. On Windows, fs_basepath auto-discovery checks the current working directory, registry install entries (including App Paths and uninstall metadata), and known legacy install roots such as Human Head Studios/Prey, 2K Games/Prey, and Games/Prey.
- Unified Game Module Model — Engine loads
game_<arch>for both SP and MP paths, with legacygamex86/gamex64aliases accepted during migration - Legacy Install Discovery — Windows install detection covers CD-era registry keys, App Paths, uninstall entries, and known install roots without assuming Steam/GOG-only layouts
- Official Asset Validation — Startup validation checks the required official Prey base PK4 layout before the game runs
- SDL3-first Windows Backend — SDL3 is the default window, input, and display backend; the legacy Win32 backend remains as a transitional fallback
- Meson + Ninja Build System — Canonical configure/build/install path with repo-local staging under
.install/ - Cross-platform Nightly Builds — GitHub Actions builds and packages Windows, Linux, and macOS artifacts from the same Meson staging flow
- Crash Diagnostics — Windows debug builds write crash logs and minidumps into
crashes/beside the executable
- Modern Window Modes — Windowed, borderless, desktop-native fullscreen, and exclusive fullscreen all supported
- Monitor Selection — SDL3 builds expose
r_screen,listDisplays, andlistDisplayModesfor multi-monitor setup - Aspect Ratio and FOV — Automatically derived from the current render size; no manual aspect-ratio setting needed
You need a copy of PREY (2006) installed from original media or another legitimate distribution. OpenPREY supports CD-era install layouts.
Head to the Releases page and download the latest archive for your platform (Windows, Linux, or macOS).
Unzip or unpack the archive to any folder you like.
Launch OpenPREY-client_x64 (that's OpenPREY-client_x64.exe on Windows). OpenPREY will find your PREY (2006) installation automatically in most cases.
Note
Windows players: The package is self-contained — no extra software needs to be installed.
Note
Linux players: OpenPREY currently runs through XWayland on Wayland desktops. Make sure DISPLAY is set in your environment.
Tip
If OpenPrey can't find your PREY installation automatically, launch with +set fs_basepath "C:\path\to\PREY". See the manual path configuration section in the technical reference.
- Display Settings — fullscreen, borderless, monitor selection, and anti-aliasing
- Technical Reference — compatibility status, advanced configuration, file layout, dependencies, and versioning
- Building from Source — compiler requirements, build options, and the GameLibs companion repository
Want to compile OpenPrey yourself? Full instructions, compiler requirements, and notes on the OpenPREY-GameLibs companion repository live in BUILDING.md.
OpenPrey is an open project and welcomes contributions of all kinds — bug reports, code fixes, documentation, and platform testing.
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch
- Make your changes and test thoroughly
- Submit a pull request
Keep compatibility with official PREY assets in mind, follow the existing code style, and see BUILDING.md for build setup instructions.
- themuffinator — OpenPrey development and maintenance
- Justin Marshall — Quake4Doom baseline and related reverse-engineering work
- id Software — idTech 4 engine lineage
- Raven Software — Quake 4 codebase lineage used by OpenQ4
- Human Head Studios — PREY (2006) and the PREY SDK
- Sean Barrett — stb_vorbis audio codec
- GLEW Team — OpenGL extension wrangler
- OpenAL Soft Contributors — 3D audio implementation
- SDL Team — Cross-platform framework
OpenPrey is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3). You are free to use, modify, and distribute the software under its terms.
See the LICENSE file for full details.
Note: The GPLv3 license applies to OpenPREY's engine code only. Game library code in OpenPrey-GameLibs is derived from the PREY SDK and subject to the original Human Head Studios SDK EULA. PREY game assets remain the property of Human Head Studios and 2K.
OpenPREY is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Human Head Studios, 2K, Bethesda, ZeniMax, id Software, or Raven Software. PREY is a trademark of ZeniMax Media Inc.
You must own a legitimate copy of PREY (2006) to use this software. OpenPREY does not include any copyrighted game assets.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. OpenPREY is software under active development. Use at your own risk.
Repository • Game Library • Issue Tracker • Releases • OpenQ4