The System Shock remake seems to be sneaking onto Steam in March
Watch out, Shodan's about
A release window for Nightdive Studios’ long-in-development remake of sci-fi immersive sim System Shock has popped up on Steam, like a rogue AI on a futuristic space station terminal. Nightdive now appear to be aiming for a March 2023 release for System Shock, according to the game’s recently updated Steam store page. Although there’s nothing more than that, and Nightdive haven’t announced anything themselves, it’s a step forward for the game.
The System Shock remake was first announced back in 2015, following Nightdive’s work on remastering the original game for its Enhanced Edition. The most recent update on System Shock’s progress was shared in a Kickstarter post last month, when Nightdive said they were in the “final stage of fine-tuning and polishing”. They promised a backer beta, and an updated Steam demo before the game releases. “When it’s done,” was the timeframe given then.
System Shock has been through some issues over the past six years. In 2017, Nightdive swapped engines from Unity to Unreal. Nightdive announced a year later that the project’s development was to be “refocused”.
More recently, Ed got some hands-on time with a demo of System Shock at August’s Gamescom and felt it was in keeping with the original. “Without a doubt, though, the game had the magnetic pull of the best immersive sims,” he said. “No matter how frustrated I was at some of its more obvious antiquities, I was totally sold on System Shock's world. I was there examining little chips on the floor, or reading audio logs and relishing the fact that a compass wasn't responsible for steering me through absolutely every objective.”
System Shock is targeting March 2023 for release on Steam for £35/$40/€40. It’s also coming to GOG and the Epic Games Store, along with PlayStations and Xboxes.
