Development for the upcoming System Shock remake from Nightdive Studios has been placed on hold, at least for the immediate future. After the studio successfully reached its funding goal on Kickstarter back in June 2016 with $1.3 million dollars from 21,625 backers, the project is now "taking a break," according to Nightdive Studios CEO Stephen Kick.
In the latest Kickstarter update , Kick explains that the game, while initially planned to come to fruition as a remaster developed in the Unity game engine, eventually grew in scope to become a new game entirely. The larger version of the project continued to require a bigger budget, and thus, more money as well as manpower. Thus, Kick has made the executive decision to place the project on hold for the time being, while stressing that the project is absolutely not being closed down.
“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,” Kick said in the post. “I have put the team on a hiatus while we reassess our path so that we can return to our vision. We are taking a break, but NOT ending the project. 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.”
"Ultimately the responsibility for the decisions rests with me," the post continued. "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."
The statement is certainly a blow to System Shock fans looking for the next big thing for the series, but it's not a death knell. With so much invested in the project and System Shock 3 coming around the corner as well, the onus is on Nightdive Studios to produce a game that backers can be proud of. Unfortunately, it's not certain at this point when the remake may end up in the hands of eager players. Whenever it does finally come to fruition, you can expect it on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, pending nothing changes in the interim.
