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System Shock Remastered Put On Hiatus
Today, Nightdive Studios was upfront with Kickstarter backers about the status of System Shock Remastered, announcing it's currently on hold. Nightdive Studios revealed its plan for a remaster of the beloved sci-fi game via Kickstarter in June of 2016. The campaign was more successful than the developer ever imagined, with over 21,000 backers lending over $1.3 million for it.
Nightdive Studios CEO Stephen Kick says the team got to work quickly but got overly ambitious – to point where it felt like they were creating a new game and not a remaster. After switching engines from Unity to Unreal, the new potential only made their appetite increase, which in turn had them straying further from their initial goal. "The more that we worked on the game, the more that we wanted to do, and the further we got from the original concepts that made System Shock so great."
Kick takes complete responsibility for letting that vision slide. "As the CEO and founder of Nightdive Studios, a company that was built on the restoration of the System Shock franchise, I let things get out of control," he says. "I can tell you that I did it for all the right reasons, that I was totally committed to making a great game, but it has become clear to me that we took the wrong path, that we turned our backs on the very people who made this possible, our Kickstarter backers."
So what does this mean? Kick's solution is to put the team on hiatus as a way to "reassess" their path. He wants to return to the original vision that was promised and is not giving up on the remaster. "We are taking a break, but NOT ending the project," he stresses. "Please accept my personal assurance that we will be back and stronger than ever. System Shock is going to be completed and all of our promises fulfilled."
You can read the full Kickstart post here.
For more on Nightdive Studios and why it took on a System Shock remaster in the first place, you can read our in-depth feature.
Our Take
I think taking a step to reevaluate things is in everyone's best interest. I'm happy Nightdive Studios is being honest and open, owning up to their faults. This probably wasn't an easy thing to admit, but transparency is always the best, especially when people have already put down money for a project. I'm still excited for the remaster, and I hope the other ideas go toward something new after the team fulfills their promise on the System Shock remaster.
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