System Shock 3 - Starbreeze Sells Publishing Rights to Otherside

Silver

Spaceman
Staff Member
Joined
February 13, 2014
Messages
9,314
Location
New Zealand
@news.cision Starbreeze has sold back publishing rights for System Shock 3 to Otherside Entertainment due to financial difficulties.

Starbreeze acquired the publishing rights for "System Shock 3" in 2017 and has since then partly financed the development of the game. The title owner OtherSide Entertainment and Starbreeze have now reached an agreement whereby Starbreeze returns the publishing rights for the game to OtherSide and will be able to recoup the development costs.

[...]
More information.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
9,314
Location
New Zealand
Not surprised given the developers legal troubles.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,336
Location
Spudlandia
This is actually a good thing. I don't think any true fan of System Shock wants to see a SS3 developed by these guys after the Underworld Ascendant debacle.

Hopefully the IP will be picked up by a competent developer who can do it justice.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,320
Location
Florida, US
This is actually a good thing. I don't think any true fan of System Shock wants to see a SS3 developed by these guys after the Underworld Ascendant debacle.

Hopefully the IP will be picked up by a competent developer who can do it justice.

True that. Things have been looking grim.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
9,314
Location
New Zealand
I'm not sure what this means.

OtherSide getting back the rights to publishing SS3 means exactly squat in terms of the actual game already in development, unless I'm missing something. Well, unless it means they need to reduce the budget - without this partner involved.

I mean, why would we care who publishes it?

Personally, I'm still extremely concerned since OtherSide is still involved - at least on some level, and now they might be publishing it themselves?

SS3 is a game I've decided to write off - and maybe, against all hope, it will end up being a nice surprise.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,336
Location
Spudlandia
I certainly don't see anything good about this in terms of the future of SS3.

That said, if by some miracle OtherSide can persuade another publisher to help fund development - maybe that's a step up.

AFAIK, Underworld Ascendant was the exact opposite of a success - and it being their only real title, it's going to take a little work to appear attractive.

Maybe having Warren Spector will make a difference.

It seems like the world of suits still believe in the names of has-beens. Certainly seems to have worked for countless others in this space in recent years.
 
The potential good comes from the chance that someone other than Otherside eventually gets to develop SS3. If they end up folding due to these financial issues, they're obviously not going to be developing anything.

I can't imagine how anyone could still want them to be the ones to attempt a System Shock sequel. I'd rather it not happen at all than to have them give us another Underworld Ascendant.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,320
Location
Florida, US
The actual developers of SS3 are different from the developers of UA - at least that was the case before UA was released. Warren Spector is leading the SS3 development team - and I find it highly unlikely that they wouldn't be involved in a different iteration if the funding dries up.

I suspect the primary reason UA sucked was Neurath - as he was the lead on that team, and he's clearly not what he once was. Well, maybe he was never that good, which is definitely possible.

My main concern with SS3 isn't about the actual developers - as I don't know who they are (beyond Spector) - but about the business side of OtherSide and the decisions involved if funding becomes a concern, which is even more likely now.

So, again, I don't see the upside at all here.

Anyway, time will tell - I guess.
 
I'd rather it not happen at all than to have them give us another Underworld Ascendant.

System Shock Descendant
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
3,754
Location
Brasil
Quote from Spector:

We parted ways with Starbreeze (amicably), which means we are in the process of lining up a new publishing partner. Happily, given the pedigree of System Shock and the progress we've made so far there's been a lot of interest. Has the situation affected development? Not really. The team is still, as we say, 'psyched and cranking' - in other words, continuing as normal. We're confident we can bring System Shock 3 to market and have it take its place as a leading title in the immersive simulation genre.

Anyway, on another forum I frequent, there's a developer from OtherSide talking about what went wrong - without going into specifics. I wonder if I should believe him, as I still can't wrap my head around it happening without it being down to terrible and inept leadership.

In any case, they keep insisting that the SS3 development team is different and much larger.

I guess, if you're a glass-half-full kinda guy, there's hope yet.
 
The actual developers of SS3 are different from the developers of UA - at least that was the case before UA was released. Warren Spector is leading the SS3 development team - and I find it highly unlikely that they wouldn't be involved in a different iteration if the funding dries up.

I suspect the primary reason UA sucked was Neurath - as he was the lead on that team, and he's clearly not what he once was. Well, maybe he was never that good, which is definitely possible.

My main concern with SS3 isn't about the actual developers - as I don't know who they are (beyond Spector) - but about the business side of OtherSide and the decisions involved if funding becomes a concern, which is even more likely now.

So, again, I don't see the upside at all here.

Anyway, time will tell - I guess.

Amazing, how it comes out that a TEAM was a genius not one developer taking the credit for a game that an amazing team was able to make.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2013
Messages
3,456
Back
Top Bottom