Publishing giant Tencent "will be taking the System Shock franchise forward," System Shock 3 developer OtherSide Entertainment announced today.
The studio confirmed the news on its site and social media channels. "As a smaller indie studio, it had been challenging for us to carry the project on our own," the announcement adds. "We believe Tencent’s deep capabilities and expertise as a leading game company will bring the franchise to new heights."
As our sister site PC Gamer reported, Tencent has been rumored to be the new publisher of System Shock 3 ever since some web domains were transferred to the company. However, Tencent's role in the development and distribution of System Shock 3, not to mention the rest of the franchise, remains unclear.
OtherSide's announcement was vague, only specifying that Tencent will 'take the franchise forward.' Many assumed this to mean a total buyout, but Nightdive Studio CEO Stephen Kick confirmed on Twitter that Nightdive still owns the System Shock franchise and IP itself. Nightdive has yet to mention Tencent's move on any of its channels, so for now it seemingly won't affect System Shock 2 Enhanced, which it's currently developing.
We've reached out to Tencent, OtherSide, and Nightdive for clarification, and we'll update this story if we hear back. For now, it's reasonable to assume that Tencent has acquired a stake in OtherSide, which could be a massive boon for System Shock 3, a game that's struggled with repeated layoffs for years.
