System Shock 3 Release Date, News and Legacy of Series

Dec 09, 2015 02:43 PM EST

The System Shock series really influenced gaming in the nineties as it told its stories in a very cyberpunk way.  There hasn't been a new System Shock game since that decade, but that is about to change, as fans who can remember will be pleased to learn that a System Shock 3 is on the way.  This is everything that is known about System Shock 3 Release Date, News, and the Legacy of the Series.

According to PC World, Night Drive, the publishers of System Shock 2 (along with EA) hinted that there would be a sequel to the game, and they would get started on it after working on a System Shock remake.  A new announcement revealed that there will be a System Shock 3, but it won't be from Night Drive. Instead, it will be from Otherside Entertainment, who is currently hard at work on Underworld Ascendant. 

There was a teaser for something big on Otherside Entertainment's website, and if you go there now, you will see a countdown.  Some people from the RPG Codex forum were able to trawl the source code, and they found a message prepared for Sunday that shows that System Shock 3 is coming. 

It is enough to get fans of the first two games excited for a long-awaited sequel, but there have been concerns about how good of a game that this could be.  Otherside Entertainment had to resort to crowdfunding on Underworld Ascendant, and they raised about $850,000 on Kickstarter.  The problem with a System Shock game is that it would cost a whole lot more than that, easily into the millions for a big-budget AAA game.  It is possible that Otherside Entertainment will find another big publisher to work with like EA and get some funds. 

If you are unfamiliar with the System Shock series, it began as a 1994 action role-playing video game by Looking Glass Technologies and Origin Systems for the PC.  It featured a 3D engine, some interesting physics, and a creative setting of a space station in the year 2072.  The story is of a hacker attempting to stop an artificial intelligence named SHODAN.  The first game was only a moderate commercial success, but it was influential enough to gain a following and a sequel. 

System Shock 2 was actually not even meant to be a sequel to the original System Shock, but the story was altered after EA got a hold of it, and it was released to the public in 1999.  The game has role-playing elements and takes place aboard a starship in 2114, with a lot of combat, exploration, and a complex system of inventory made even more complex with psionic abilities. 

Sadly, System Shock 2 didn't meet its sales expectations, but the series has remained in the public's consciousness as one of the influential cyberpunk games of the nineties.  Many credit the popular Deus Ex and BioShock gaming franchises as their spiritual successors. 

According to Polygon, there will be a reimaging of the original System Shock, and the company just released an enhanced port of the game.  As for when the System Shock 3 game will be released, the currently minimalist site doesn't have any information on that.  It also is not known whether or not it will come to the console platform.