Nightdive’s System Shock Remake goes on hiatus

When the project was initially Kickstarted, Nightdive Studios’ System Shock Remake was intended to bring the classic to a modern audience modernised graphics and the same story and gameplay. While this plan seemed simple enough, it looks like the project has hit some major roadblocks, with the CEO of Nightedive placing the project on hiatus. 

System Shock raised over $1.35 million on Kickstarter, with an additional $77K coming from Backerkit. Over time the project grew and was changed from what was intended to be a remaster to something different, so much so that Nightdive started seeking publishing partners. Nightdive’s CEO, Stephen Kick, eventually decided that the studio had gone down the wrong path, pausing the project while the studio reaccesses their situation. 

Nightdive still intends to create the System Shock Remake that their backers pay for, though this situation does showcase what can go wrong when Kickstarted developers move too far away from their original concept and become too ambitious. Below is Stephen Kick’s statement regarding the hiatus.

     Maybe we were too successful. 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.

As our concept grew and as our team changed, so did the scope of what we were doing and with that the budget for the game. As the budget grew, we began a long series of conversations with potential publishing partners. The more that we worked on the game, the more that we wanted to do, and the further we got from the original concepts that made System Shock so great.

Ultimately the responsibility for the decisions rests with me. 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. 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.

I have put the team on a hiatus while we reassess our path so that we can return to our vision. We are taking a break, but NOT ending the project. 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.