System Shock was a genre-defining game for Ken Levine, long before Bioshock was on the scene. However, like many older games it will no longer run on newer hardware without some serious faffing around. However, like its sequel Nightdive Studios wants to have an updated version made that will, and it seems that their efforts will ultimately be successful - two weeks before the end of the crowdfunding campaign for said-project they've already hit their target.
Nightdive was founded back in 2012 for the purposes of acquiring the digital rights to System Shock 2 to get a working version made for those who hadn't managed to play it when it was first released. They're now hoping to get the same treatment for the original game which was released back in 1994, updating the game with the Unity engine. Stretch goals for the game now include a full orchestral score at $1.5m, more locations and narrative at £1.3m and extra mechanics and updates to the core design of the game including vending machines, crafting and upgrading for just $1.4m. There are even more above $2m, but as of yet the details about those have not been revealed to the public. If funding keeps going strongly though, they'll be revealed sooner rather than later most likely.
Older games are very much something popular with gamers now, especially for the young adult and adult generations who were a part of the gaming scenes of the 80s and 90s during their childhoods and teens. As we've seen before with Yooka-Laylee and other crowd funding campaigns, nostalgia is a very strong draw.
In a statement celebrating the success of his Kickstarter for System Shock, the CEO of Nightdive Stephen Kick wrote: "The journey started with System Shock 2 and the reception/support I received allowed me to seek out other like minded individuals who would help locate and revive more lost classics. There's no possible way I could convey how grateful the Nightdive team is to the 14,000+ backers who put their trust in us - we're having a lot of fun remaking System Shock and we owe it all to you!"