Deus Ex and System Shock lead Warren Spector has commented on the long-missing System Shock 3.
Announced back in 2019, the third System Shock game was in development at Spector’s Otherside Entertainment while Nightdive Studios was finishing up its work on the first game’s phenomenal remake.
As we all know, System Shock 3 is not out. Currently, the System Shock 3 project rests in the hands of Tencent, although it’s not known if the game is in active development right now. What is clear, though, is that Spector is not involved.
Speaking to Game Informer following the release of his new game Thick as Thieves, Spector revealed that development on the project was proceeding quite well. Otherside Entertainment spent over two years on the game, revealing a pre-alpha look at the title in 2019.
“I worked on it for a couple of years,” Spector said. “I had a team of 17 people. We were making good progress. It was very imm-simy. I had a core mechanic that I love that I got married to, to its detriment.”
Spector explained that the game was initially funded by Payday developer Starbreeze who had its own publishing arm. However, as the company was facing “whatever the Swedish equivalent of bankruptcy is”, they pulled funding. Afterwards, Tencent appeared, but they wanted to do something bigger than what Otherside was planning for the Shock sequel.
“Tencent came along and said we want to go big with System Shock. They said they could go big with it in a way that we couldn’t. They made an investment. They kept us alive. Thanks, Tencent. And at this point, if anything’s ever going to happen with it, it’s Tencent that’s going to do it, not us,” he said.
As for Spector’s version of System Shock 3, that version of the game still exists on a hard drive. Unfortunately, it won’t likely ever see the light of day, and Spector doubts “Tencent would use any of it” for their take on the franchise.
System Shock 3 is seemingly in some form of production, although it has been years since any official news has come out regarding the project. IP holder Nightdive Studios has teased that fans should hear something about the game this year, although it’s not known when fans will actually be able to play the game.
