Many consider 1994’s System shock as one of the most influential FPS titles of all time, right up there among the likes of Doom, Wolfenstein, and Half-Life. So, it’s easy to understand why fans are so excited to hear more about the threequel. Unfortunately, it appears that Warren Spector and OtherSide Entertainment’s third System Shock game is stuck in development hell.
According to a GamesBeat interview, Warren Spector didn’t get a chance to work much on System Shock 3 at all. Instead, the studio only worked on the upcoming game “in 2018 and 2019” as the team “maxed out” at 17 developers, and work on the game had become too much for them to handle.
In the same interview, Spector referred to a statement that the studio made last year. He clarified that he can’t say much about System Shock 3 already and that “Tencent is taking the franchise forward.” It appears that OtherSide’s version of the game is dead, as it will be up to the Chinese publishing giant to “say what they want to say.
The good news here is that OtherSide has since rebounded. After dropping System Shock 3, OtherSide moved on to work on a new game with “an immerse world and engaging narrative that players will directly impact through their choices and playstyles.” Spector adds that the game is “all original” and that his wife described it as his “magnum opus”, which is high praise when you consider Spector’s work on the Ultima series, Deus Ex, Thief, and more.
Spector’s interview provided some insight into just how much the process of creating a game takes out of him. The immersive sim game developer said that “game development is not just a job” to him and that it took him a while to get his “creative juices flowing again” as he had to go through a “period of personal recovery.” It also didn’t help that the COVID-19 pandemic put any of the veteran developer’s plans on hold.
TLDR; OtherSide’s System Shock 3 is dead and Spector doesn’t know what kind of game it will become once it comes out.
Tencent still hasn’t released a statement on the future of System Shock 3. In addition, many publications still list OtherSide Entertainment as the developers of the game. So, don’t get your hopes too high up that we’ll see System Shock 3 anytime soon. Coincidentally, the latest game in the series’ spiritual successor, BioShock 4, is also reportedly going through a tough time. Meanwhile, a remake of the original System Shock game is still expected to be released later this year with a demo already available on Steam.
