System Shock: Remastered Delayed, Developer “On Hiatus"

Kickstarter crowdfunding has allowed plenty of die-hard game fans see their dreams come true, but also plenty of those dreams die. In the case of System Shock's remaster by Nightdive Studios, those dreams are now another step away from becoming reality.

Nightdive Studios' System Shock remaster was expected to release this year on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, but a recent update from the team says otherwise. The remaster has been delayed, again, and the development team is on hiatus.

On a Kickstarter post, Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios, takes responsibility for a change of direction, which is why he decided to put the team on hiatus to "reassess" its vision for the game. Kick also makes it clear that the remaster is not being canceled. His update does not detail how long the team will be out, nor an expected release date.

"Maybe we were too successful," Kick's update states. "Maybe we lost our focus. The vision began to change. We moved from a remaster to a completely new game. We shifted engines from Unity to Unreal, a choice that we don't regret and one that has worked out for us. With the switch we began envisioning doing more, but straying from the core concepts of the original title."

"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."

In 2016, Nightdive Studios created a Kickstarter campaign for a remaster of the 1994 game System Shock. The team released a trailer of their vision done in Unity beside the campaign, which gained over 21,600 backers and raised $1.3 million. A third System Shock game is also supposedly in development by ex-Looking Glass and BioShock developers.