Layoffs at Otherside Austin (System Shock 3)

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Skulldead]

Please not another future cancellation ?

 

[kurahador]

Sigh.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[big_z]

I'd be okay if Microsoft wanted to help fund this one.

 

[Quad Lasers]

This game really can't catch a break.

(Thoughts to the folks out of a job, of course.)

 

[2CL4Mars]

I'd be okay if Microsoft wanted to help fund this one.

Click to shrink...

Or any one for that matter.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Instro]

It's really too bad. Hard to tell what's going on, but hopefully everything works out as the game was looking good.

 

[Strike]

Damn.

 

[Sinatar]

It's been almost a year since they lost their publisher and they haven't managed to convince anyone else to publish it (and after Underworld Ascendant, who can blame them...) so yea they gotta be running out of funds.

 

[SeanBoocock]

I hope for the best for those who worked there. Some exciting stuff in Austin at the moment to land on.

 

[Sloane]

Nooo. :( The game I'm looking forward to the most.

Hope it works out for everyone.

 

[Nessus]

God damnit.

 

[demondance]

Underworld Ascendant shouldn't have been released in that condition. That killed any hope I had of this being a decent game.

And it probably spelled the end of them raising much more money.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Umbrella Carp]

This one is destined for cancellation and a studio shutdown, sadly.

 

[Deleted member 23850]

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

 

[capitalCORN]

Ah what a shitshow. At least SS Remake is coming along?

 

[flyinj]

Underworld Ascendant shouldn't have been released in that condition. That killed any hope I had of this being a decent game.

And it probably spelled the end of them raising much more money.

Click to shrink...

Underworld Ascendant shouldn't have been released in any condition.

It was fundamentally flawed to its core.

This is the first I'm hearing that Microsoft was possibly publishing their next game. How in the hell did MS look at Underworld Ascendant and say "Now that's a team we should get behind!"

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Phil's Empty Chair]

Everything SS related is in development hell.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Gundam]

Seems it's time for a checkup with doctor phil, unless it's really that bad

Was it this or the SS1 remake that got announced for Xbox One timed exclusivity at some point

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Deleted member 23850]

The studio's former community manager, who recently left to join Zenimax Online, said in a Discord post back in September that the game was still years away:

Click to shrink...

Is this good?

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Deleted member 23850]

I wouldn't think so. The people leaving the studio en mass suggests that they're possibly running low on cash and a publisher is desperately needed for the game to move forward. Even if it's not cancelled already, I doubt they can make much meaningful progress with a skeleton crew. Sadly a similar thing happened with Underworld Ascendant. Despite being announced in July 2014 and running a successful Kickstarter campaign, development ran on fumes until summer 2017 before 505 agreed to publish. The scope radically changed and the end result was a catastrophic failure.

Click to shrink...

There just isn't much of a demand for these types of games, are there?

Shame.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Deleted member 23850]

They seem to be a hard sale. Back in May of this year, Warren Spector said they had lots of publisher interest:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/system-shock-3-has-a-lot-of-interest-from-publishers/

It seems like no one's bitten in the interim, even after the big September trailer and the puff piece from Gamespot.

Click to shrink...

I see the issue. Im going to guess that they are worried that publishers are going to pressure the team to add on shit it doesn't need, like MP.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[capitalCORN]

Not looking good at all. Why is this franchise so cursed?

 

[haveheart]

I hope for the best for those who worked there. Some exciting stuff in Austin at the moment to land on.

Click to shrink...

Did I miss something? What are they working on?

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Lightjolly]

I'd be okay if Microsoft wanted to help fund this one.

Click to shrink...

Could be a killer app for the xbox as well as sell loads on PC.

 

[haveheart]

They were working on System Shock 3. SeanBoocock was just saying there's lots of good opportunities for game work in Austin.

Click to shrink...

Right, haha. My mind immediately went to Arkane Austin so I misread it. I'm a bit confused today.

 

[_Aaron_]

Do people think a System Shock 3 will live up to expectations after Underworld Ascendant?

It's probably better that this game never sees the light of day than tarnish the series' legacy.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Deleted member 23850]

God I hope we get a System Shock 3.

 

[SeanBoocock]

Did I miss something? What are they working on?

Click to shrink...

Otherside in Austin was (?) working on System Shock 3, published by Starbreeze until they ran into their own financial problems. The forum posts linked above sound correct from what I've heard. What I meant, though, was there is exciting work being done in Austin game studios at the moment. Bluepoint is an obvious example but there is a lot more in the years to come :)

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Messofanego]

So, it's all dead? I read up on what happened with Underworld Ascendant, yikes.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Deleted member 2317]

Well I guess this is it then.

:(

 

[Messofanego]

They were small teams when they made such games in the first place so what went wrong here, Unity issues or deadlines or what?

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Hella]

Mr. Tibbs FYI your link isn't working.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Deleted member 4494]

It's absolutely nuts that a game so far along and relatively good looking in a larger than life IP just isn't happening anymore.

Hey, Epic -- maybe use some Fortnite dollars for this one?