System Shock 3, whatever happened to it?
Back in June 2006 American gaming magazine Game Informer’s Loose Talk column mentioned System Shock 3 was in development at Electronic Arts, who in January 2006 had renewed the System Shock series trademarks. The creators of the original two games at Irrational Games, who now worked for Take Two after a takeover, weren’t developing it but instead the team who made The Godfather game.
In August 2006 the PC Gamer UK magazine also revealed the project has been assigned to EA Redwood Shores (The Godfather), since the series creators were working on a spiritual successor of their own called BioShock. This reveal was made all the more controversial when as part of the magazine’s interview Irrational Games’ Ken Levine (designer of the original games) said: “One of the reasons I wasn’t interested [in System Shock 3] is EA just didn’t give a sh*t about that game… I think if EA were to do it, it would’ve been just a regular first-person shooter with a boss monster at the end. They [EA] didn’t see it as big brand and I didn’t want that uphill battle.”
The Official Xbox Magazine later in 2006 remarked that the original lead designer, Doug Church, of the series is part of the development team for System Shock 3. — In July 2007, the month before BioShock’s release, creator Ken Levine once again answered the question whether or not he’d like to make System Shock 3. To quote: “Man, that question is completely out of the hands of a little man like me. But we took the core principles from the last game and weaved them into Bioshock. To me the game principles are more important than what fictional universe the game exists in.”
Since the FPS/RPG hybrid System Shock 2 (EA’s first Mature-rated game back in 1999) has become such a cult classic, it’s hard to imagine EA wouldn’t at least attempt a sequel. But it’s been two years since we last heard any rumblings about the game and unless it shows up at E3 2008 in mid-July [it didn't], System Shock 3 seems like it died a quiet death. But at least the fans have BioShock 2 and 3 to look forward to!
Quotes via: Kotaku, Macnn, CVG, Arstechnica, Gamepro
18 August 2008 08:13Mike
I’ve just read the above comment about SS2 having a mature rating (EA’s first Mature-rated game back in 1999) Could this be why EA seems uninterested, any game which cannot sell to kids being seen as a marketing disaster and quietly killed.
Damn, The b*stards at EA need to get there heads on straight and realize how many fans System Shock 2 has gotten in recent years. It would be a gold mine.
