The System Shock remake was Kickstarted way back in 2016, and Nightdive Studios has reported that the game is finally playable from beginning to end. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s anywhere close to launching. It’s now in the polishing stage, and art, animations, and secondary assets are still in production. The game has missed several estimated release windows, and in late 2021, Nightdive stated it would launch in 2022. However, it’s looking like it might get pushed back again.
When is the System Shock remake coming out?
The last release window that Nightdive gave for the System Shock remake was “2022.” However, on the Kickstarter post that announced that the System Shock remake could be completed, Nightdive’s community moderator stated:
…we recognize that previous estimations of a release window have not been met, we hear the frustration, and quite honestly we do not wish to repeat this again.
While the full details aren’t known, it seems as if the System Shock remake has had a tumultuous development cycle. Work on the game started in 2016 with a projected release date sometime in 2018. However, due to rising costs and feature creep, that version was put on hold and later scrapped in 2018. Then, development restarted with a new team that was told to focus on what was promised in the Kickstarter. The rebooted version was looking toward a 2020 release date, but COVID-19 has caused delays in the game’s production.
We got Steam demos of the System Shock reboot in 2020 and 2021, which received positive attention. Only 15 developers are working on the game, so, understandably, it’s taking a while to finish. However, a closed beta should be coming sometime before launch, and Nightdive seems confident that the game will be completed. So, it’s a matter of when, not if, fans will finally get to play the full version.
In other news, Techland will keep working on Dying Light 2 fixes, and PlatinumGames is open to being acquired if it can retain its creative freedom.
