Night Dive Studios might not be as famous today as Blizzard or Electronic Arts, but its contribution to gaming history is just as significant. Hugely popular titles such as BioShock and Deus Ex took great inspiration from the company's early '90s title, System Shock.
During the last couple of years, the game development studio brought PC gaming classics back to life, including titles such as I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, System Shock and System Shock 2.
After a large number of PC titles sold on GOG.com saw involvements from Night Dive at some point, the company aims a lot higher this time.
Night Dive CEO Stephen Kick stated during an interview that his company has all engines running to create a full-on remake of System Shock. He made it clear that he is not talking about a digital revamping like the variant launched in September. Instead, Night Dive is working on a remake "from the ground up."
Kick mentioned that with the purchase of full franchise rights, the company has all it needs to pursue its goal. Robert Waters, the artist who did the concept art for the original game, got together with Kick's team to bring the remake to PC screens everywhere.
As polished a digital remastering may be, it is unlikely that the new generation of gamers will see the game's appeal. This shrinks the target audience to nostalgic gamers who grew up with '90s titles, most of which spend little time playing video games.
There are also purists and critics who call out any modification to classic titles as "heretical." This is why the gaming studio's future remake of System Shock can turn out either very good or very bad.
The release date was not mentioned, but Kick stated something that makes a lot of PC gamers tremble in anticipation. He suggested that a System Shock 3 could become a reality someday, provided that a more powerful publisher than Night Dive Studios takes the reins.
The tantalizing declaration makes us dream of the day when Baldur's Gate III and Age of Empires IV will land on future 8K desktop monitors.
