Another Kickstarter-born project has seemingly failed. Well, not really failed, but it does seem that way. Nightdive Studios brought fans some bleak news on Feb. 17 by announcing that System Shock, the much-anticipated reboot whose crowdfunding marathon began two years ago, has entered hiatus.
System Shock was able to raise $1.3 million during its campaign — becoming one of the most successful projects on Kickstarter. The studio, best known for re-releasing old titles on newer gaming platforms, tied the hiatus to development problems, stating that that team wants to "reassess" the project before it resumes work.
Why 'System Shock' Is On Hiatus
Nightdive Studios CEO Stephen Kick said the team bit off more than they could chew, "envisioning doing more, but straying from the core concepts of the original title." He failed to offer a timeline for when the project will get back on track, and needless to say, it's not looking good, especially for those who threw big bucks at Nightdive Studios for the campaign.
"Yup. This is incredibly disappointing. This past November, I was looking forward to a surprise booth at Pax East after two years of development. Instead, we get a rehash of old pictures, you had released the previous year. Then nothing. Then this," said one commenter on Kickstarter
"Ah well, another fraudulent Kickstarter project. Time for me to stop trusting people, I guess," said another.
Overall, 21,625 backers helped the campaign earn $1,350,700, according to System Shock's Kickstarter page. Pledges go as low as $5 to as high as $10,000, with an estimated delivery date of December 2017.
Kick said development kind of went ballistic at some point, as the team introduced more and more ideas on the table, causing them to get sidetracked.
"The more that we worked on the game, the more that we wanted to do, and the further we got from the original concepts that made System Shock so great."
According to a source familiar with the project, as Polygon reports, unrealistic ambitions and "mission creep" had eaten up the funds. It remains unclear how the studio's financial status looks like, but it reportedly approached game publishers to acquire more funding but failed.
System Shock
System Shock is a remake of the 1994 classic, rebuilt entirely using the popular gaming engine Unity. It was one of the first 3D games that employed a methodical approach to exploration while revealing a story-driven narrative via various audio logs and messages peppered across different points inside the game's world.
