Disappointing news out of developer Nightdive Studios regarding the planned System Shock remaster. For those who may have forgotten, Nightdive raised over $1.3 million on Kickstarter for the project from over 21,000 backers. But according to CEO Stephen Kick, the team became overly ambitious while working on the project:
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.
However, Kick makes it clear that the team is not ending development and the remaster will be finished as promised:
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 find Kick’s full post on Kickstarter here: Stephen Kick’s Statement on System Shock
Our Take
This is sad news but also not overly surprising given what we’ve seen out of quite a few Kickstarter projects. We certainly hope that Kick and his team keep their promises and deliver on a proper remaster of System Shock as the backers, and the game itself, deserve it. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more.
