System Shock Remake Had “Troubled Development,” Says Nightdive Studios CEO

Nightdive Studios CEO recently appeared in an interview with GamesIndustry, discussing the hopes surrounding the new System Shock remake and the issues it faced throughout the brewing period. As initially suspected by the number of delays, the new remake led to many development problems for the studio for a couple of years. However, the pre-launch reception has been fruitful for the entry, leading the CEO to have high hopes for it.

The System Shock remake has had a troubled development, but the pre-launch reception has been positive. Even if the team does decide to focus on remasters after System Shock, that doesn’t mean the company is scaling back its ambitions,” says Nightdive Studios CEO.

Moreover, the interview dives deeply into the recent merger of Atari and what it entails for the System Shock series and the whole studio moving forward. The primary issue that the remake faced was the project’s funding and scope for the developers at Nightdive, which caused the team a lot of trouble over the years. Despite all the prior problems the entry has endured, the future appears brighter for the System Shock franchise.

Say, hypothetically, we were to do another one… it would take probably a quarter of the time of what we spent on System Shock. And hopefully a quarter of the budget.”

The interview also talks about the learning process for the team; because of the gained experience, future projects of similar budgets and scales would be developed much faster. Nightdive Studios CEO Stephen Kick states that the acquisition will reportedly not affect its current projects, as Atari will let them tinker with the old-school FPS formula for the future.

The Atari acquisition doesn’t have anything to do with our overall course. What will determine that, more than anything, will be the success of System Shock. [….] Depending on how well that does, will determine whether we decided to do another remake on this scale.”

Safe to say, the CEO does not list any adverse effects birthing out of the buyout. It also means that the System Shock remake’s release will proceed as planned, and nothing will alter the roadmap for the project. As Kick mentioned, the game’s success will prove to be a turning point for the alluring studio. Nevertheless, the CEO notes that more people will have a say in its future projects, likely because of the acquisition. 

The wording in the interview also iterates that more remakes on a similar scale as System Shock could occur if the sales meet the expectations of the studio. Recent hints have suggested that Nightdive is working hard towards releasing five games this year. Additionally, an official announcement for many of its new games is also planned, further confirming the prospect.

We have some announcements coming up, actually… I wish I could share them with you, but that will put that question to rest. There’s a bunch of really obscure 1990s FPS games that we are working on, which will surprise a lot of people. One in particular that will make people go ‘what the hell is that?'”

The new interview gives us more insight into what the future holds for Nightdive Studios if the game proves to be a staggering success. System Shock remake has been in development for a long time. However, the wait has ended, and the title is slated to release in three weeks. It is set to be released on 30 May 2023 for Windows, Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S.

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