System Shock‘s significance after lying dormant for more than 15 years, is a matter of pedigree. The last game in the series, System Shock 2, was released was co-developed by BioShock developer Irrational Games and remains widely recognized as a spiritual forebear to the series.
Though System Shock 3 will not necessarily pick up the mantle it passed on to BioShock, Otherside does have a connection to the original series. Based in Lexington, Massachusetts, Otherside is a small, independent studio created by Paul Neurath, founder of System Shock developer Looking Glass Technologies. The developer raised more than $860,000 for their first game, Underworld: Ascendent, in March via Kickstarter. According to their campaign, that game is on track to ship in November, 2016.
Meanwhile, another developer, Night Dive Studios, is currently working on a reboot of the original System Shock. Night Dive acquired the rights to the franchise in 2013 and recently released System Shock: Enhanced Edition, a proof of concept for their project, in September. During an interview with Fast Company, Night Dive head of business development Larry Kuperman said they planned to speak with other publishers interested in publishing a sequel.
“To really do another game in that series is going to take resources and time and commitment that we don’t have, and it’s really not our core business,” Kuperman said.
