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OtherSide Entertainment lead says studio hasn't worked on System Shock 3 since 2019

According to Deus Ex creator and System Shock 3 lead Warren Spector, the team hasn't worked on the game in three years as it focuses on a new IP.

TJ Denzer

March 14, 2022 11:00 AM

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System Shock 3 has become an ever more doubtful prospect in the recent years, facing numerous troubles on its way through development hell. While Nightdive Studios is also working to do something formidable with the franchise with its original System Shock remake, System Shock 3 developers OtherSide Entertainment have faced layoffs and rights changes. With the studio also directing attention to a new project, System Shock 3 and Deus Ex creator Warren Spector shared that OtherSide hasn’t done new work on the game in three years.

Spector’s recent commentary on work for System Shock 3 came in a recent VentureBeat interview. In said interview, Spector spoke to both some details on OtherSide’s work on System Shock 3, as well as its shift of focus on a new IP. According to Spector, the team at OtherSide hasn’t been working on System Shock 3 since 2019. This predates when layoffs hit OtherSide and saw a lot of the System Shock 3 staff leave the studio.

1/2 We are happy to announce that Tencent will be taking the #SystemShock franchise forward.

— OtherSide Entertainment (@OtherSide_Games) May 20, 2020

“We released a statement last year,” Spector told VentureBeat. “There’s not much more to say at this point. Tencent is taking the franchise forward. It’ll be up to them to say what they want to say. There’s not much clarification I can give you.”

There was also some confusion in regards to who was in the legal right to handle the System Shock IP. After all, Nightdive Studios is already working on the original System Shock remakes, which has seen regular updates and moves towards a proper release, even in 2021 when the last demo arrived.

With Tencent having taken the reigns on the IP and OtherSide seemingly working on a whole new project, it seems more and more doubtful that System Shock 3 will ever see the light of day. If that changes, we’ll be sure to share it here at Shacknews, but with three years without proper progress on the title, its prospects look bleak.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.