System Shock Remake Delayed to 2018
By Kyle Sledge 18 November 2016
Video game developer Night Dive Studios officially announces that its remake of the first-person action-RPG System Shock gets a delay until the year 2018.
Ever since Night Dive Studios released the pre-alpha gameplay trailer for its remake of the 1994 first-person cyberpunk game System Shock, fans have been hankering to hop back into the role of the Hacker in order to have another showdown with SHODAN. However, those gamers are going to have to wait even longer since the developer has now revealed that the forthcoming release’s availability is going to be pushed back for quite some time, as its System Shock remake is now slated to drop in the second quarter of 2018.
Night Dive Studios broke the unfortunate news to its fans in the latest monthly update to System Shock‘s Kickstarter backers while giving out a few answers as part of an FAQ for the game and its progress. When the developer was asked about the remake’s release date, it responded by saying, “Our goal is to launch on PC/Mac/Linux/Xbox One/PS4 by Q2 of 2018. Not sure if it will be a simultaneous launch, but we’ll do our best.”
For those unaware, Night Dive Studios had originally set out to provide fans with the System Shock remake sometime in December 2017, so while the delay might be discouraging to some, it’s important to note that the gap between the old date and the new one isn’t too wide. While it’s anyone’s guess at this point as to the specific reasons for why the game is being postponed – work on its Turok remasters could be getting in the way – there’s a possibility that Night Dive needed more breathing room in order to incorporate all that it wanted to after its successful funding with Kickstarter expanded the title’s scope.
Beyond the announcement of System Shock‘s delay, Night Dive Studios also took the opportunity to use the game’s November Kickstarter update to provide some new concept art and details about the work being done on a “vertical slice” demo of the forthcoming release. Apparently, the demo is intending to illustrate how long it takes for content to get created, what the final visuals for the game should look like, and how its gameplay ought to feel.
Naturally, some fans might be hesitant to have pledged support for System Shock with it being such a long way until its launch, especially when one considers the amount of time put into other Kickstarter projects like Star Citizen, which has yet to officially release after being announced nearly four years ago. Nevertheless, at least fans can take solace in the fact that Night Dive Studios is being relatively forthcoming about its process.
Taking all of this into account, should fans be extremely eager to play through System Shock right now, they can always fire up the original. Of course, one would need to divorce themselves from the expectations of the graphical capabilities of the current generation in order to fully enjoy what it has to offer.
The System Shock remake is slated for release sometime in Q2 of 2018 for Linux, Mac, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Kickstarter (via Destructoid)
