After an unsure interval wherein it appeared System Shock 3 may be lifeless within the spacewater, it’s apparently now saved. Developers OtherSide Entertainment have introduced that megahuge publishers Tencent “will be taking the System Shock franchise forward,” which is… obscure and barely ominous, however promising? It’s not but clear what precisely this association means and who’s doing what, nevertheless it appears the percentages are good that sure, you’ll once more get to get pleasure from Shodan berating you for the weak point and imperfection of your flesh.
“We are happy to announce that Tencent will be taking the System Shock franchise forward,” OtherSide mentioned in yesterday’s statement. “As a smaller indie studio, it had been challenging for us to carry the project on our own. We believe Tencent’s deep capabilities and expertise as a leading game company will bring the franchise to new heights.”
Which doesn’t actually clarify who’s now making System Shock 3. Ah, we’ll hear extra in time.
The game’s destiny had been in query for a number of months, following experiences that the dev team had lost a fair few folks, together with the previous author, lead programmer, and design director. The circumstances of all that have been unclear, and OtherSide didn’t reply after I requested on the time.
So, right here’s one other digipie Tencent have their finger in. They are huge, proudly owning bits and items of so many builders in addition to making and publishing their very own games. They absolutely personal Riot Games and Funcom, have most of Path Of Exile devs Grinding Gear Games, purchased 40% of Epic Games, and maintain smaller shares of firms from Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft to Paradox Interactive and PlatinumGames. They positively have the assets to make a brand new System Shock.
Nightdive Studios, who personal the System Shock rights and are presently remaking the primary game, have clarified a little bit of the Shock authorized background. “OtherSide licensed certain rights from us to make sequels. Those rights have now been transferred to Tencent,” OtherSide instructed cheery RPS fanzine PC Gamer. “Nothing about that transfer in any way impacts our ownership.”
It continues to be a bit bizarre that SS3 is being made. I do considerably agree with previous man Kieron Gillen, who wrote in a 2009 tribute to Shodan, “There’s never going to be a System Shock 3. We really should be glad.” Maybe we must always let sleeping AIs lie. We have declared System Shock 2 one in every of the best RPGs however possibly that’s good cause to go away it’s. Oh pricey, I’ve taken a melancholy flip.
The final we noticed of System Shock Three was this in September 2019:
