System Shock 3 developer OtherSide Entertainment confirmed Tencent’s involvement in the project.
“We are happy to announce that Tencent will be taking the System Shock franchise forward. As a smaller indie studio, it had been challenging for us to carry the project on our own. We believe Tencent’s deep capabilities and expertise as a leading game company will bring the franchise to new heights,” the studio said on Twitter.
It remains unclear if OtherSide is backing out of the project.
The news came soon after the ownership of the SystemShock3.com and SystemShock4.com websites was transferred from OtherSide Entertainment to Tencent Holdings. This, however, does not mean that Tencent owns the franchise. The IP rights remain with Nightdive Studios, which is developing the remaster of the original System Shock, as well the enhanced edition of System Shock 2. This is coming from Stephen Kick, CEO at Nightdive, who took to Twitter to clarifiy the situation (even if he didn’t very much):
@Nibellion Nightdive owns the System Shock franchise and IP, please don’t spread misinformation.
— Stephen Kick (@pripyatbeast) May 20, 2020
So it’s at least safe to say that Tencent will publish System Shock 3 and that the game will ultimately happen. As for when it comes out and on what platforms, we’ll just have to wait and see.