Home Gaming Tencent now owns the System Shock 3 and 4 websites

Tencent now owns the System Shock 3 and 4 websites

2 min read
6
System Shock of a Down

There’s been speculation lately that System Shock 3 is about as dead as a mass hugging competition event in 2020, but it turns out that rumours of the demise of that sequel may have been grossly exaggerated. Developer OtherSide Entertainment and creative director Warren Spector were feeling the pinch after a mass exodus of key staff on the game, with word on the follow-up to the cult classic revolving around Spector going on the hunt for a new publishing partner after their deal with Starbreeze took a bad turn.

According to VGC, that partner may have been found as OtherSide has apparently aligned itself with a company that has very very deep pockets. The report claims that Tencent is now in the SHODAN business, with the company taking ownership of the SystemShock3.com and SystemShock4.com domains, something which you can see more of on DomainTools.

That record popped up back in April 13, although neither site is currently active as System Shock 3’s official site is hosted on a different domain. It has been a long journey for System Shock 3 so far, with the game project first popping up towards the end of 2015 and then going through multiple phases of development infamy.

Back in April, OtherSide’s marketing and business development VP Walter Somol popped up on the game forums to post a simple message regarding the current status of the game, whose working staff in Texas can currently be counted on a single hand:“We’re still here.”

We’re all working remotely right now, probably like most of you. Our new concept is coming along nicely and we are really excited about it. We have cool and we think distinctive art style for it and we have that and gameplay coming together in UE4. I know it’s a tease, but I just can’t really say anything about it at this point.

If Tencent has taken publishing control of the game, then that Chinese investment could be just what the doctor ordered to get this project back on track. As the old adage goes, a healthy cash injection a day keeps the game in a state of play.

Last Updated: May 19, 2020

6 Comments

  1. Chinese investment seems to be a ever increasing thing these days. Every where you look you see they have a hand in something or another. I remember reading an article some years ago ( to be honest, it might have been a line from a movie…) and it was something about investing in the future with a retort being learn to speak Chinese…( Mandarin )

    Reply

  2. Mark Treloar

    May 19, 2020 at 12:28

    System Shock with Microtransactions? No Thanks

    Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    May 19, 2020 at 14:18

    System Shock 3 and 4, how long was I asleep 😛

    Reply

  4. Skyblue

    May 19, 2020 at 17:05

    Tencent continue their mission to own EVERYTHING. Happiest sad news this week so far. At least I got a gentle reminder to crank up some System of a Down again and maybe revisit one of my fav games of all time. Just that enemy respawn mechanic is putting me off playing it through yet again.

    Reply

  5. MaSeKind

    May 19, 2020 at 13:02

    Already seeing the idiots come out of the woodwork with “Oooh, China bad”. Yet they don’t seem to care that most of the things they use in daily life is either made in or has some connection with China.

    Also if a dev agrees to do something mandated by Tencent to get funding, whose the one to blame? I’ve yet to see any concrete evidence that anyone has been forced to add stuff into games that they didn’t want to. Also this is not Chinese aimed mobile games, where the most of the dodgy MTX crap is in.

    Reply

    • Mark Treloar

      May 19, 2020 at 13:26

      Nobody denies that China is a huge part of everyone’s lives, doesn’t mean we have to be happy about about it.

      When you consider that Tencent also owns RIOT who were happy to install a rootkit with their latest game, its really ok to be cautious.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Manchester United Sues Football Manager Over Use of their Name and Fan Mods

Manchester United, that massive global football brand whose fans are as equally annoying a…