System Shock 3 will no longer be published by Starbreeze, following an announcement today that the company will sell back the publishing rights to the game's developer OtherSide Entertainment.
Starbreeze acquired the rights in 2017, and has since "partly financed the development of the game". According to Starbreeze's announcement, OtherSide Entertainment has agreed to repay the development costs that the former company has already contributed to the project. At the time of the initial announcement in 2017, Starbreeze had pledged to invest $12 million in the game.
It follows a slightly rocky 2018 for both companies. Starbreeze filed for reconstruction in December to avoid bankruptcy, and its CEO Bo Andersson resigned. That announcement followed indications that Overkill's The Walking Dead hadn't sold as well as the company presumably hoped. Several days after news of the filing broke, Starbreeze's Swedish offices were raided amid an investigation into insider trading allegations.
Meanwhile, OtherSide Entertainment released its Kickstarter-funded Underworld Ascendant in November and it didn't please fans, to say the least.
On the topic of the System Shock 3 rights, acting Starbreeze CEO Mikael Nermark said: "I believe this is the best solution for us, although it is sad that we cannot complete the project with OtherSide.
"System Shock 3 is a fantastic title developed in cooperation with the industry legend Warren Spector and I am looking forward to seeing the game released”. It's still unclear when the game will be released.
