Warren Spector on-board for System Shock 3

The chance that System Shock 3 may be more than a nostalgia-driven cash-in just took a major leap with the news that industry veteran and designer of the original game Warren Spector is out of academia and on-board.

News that the System Shock franchise of first-person sci-fi role-playing games might get an official third entry broke late last year when hard-won rightsholder Night Dive announced plans to remake the original. At the time, company founder Stephen Kick indicated that while his rights included the ability to make a true third entry in the much-loved series it would require partnering with a larger publisher. That, gamers were thrilled to discover, was exactly what happened: OtherSide Entertainment confirmed that it was working on a third entry for Night Dive in December last year.

While enthusiasm is high, there is always the concern that any new game would fail to live up to its predecessors - or, at least, gamers' rose-tinted memories of its predecessors. The likelihood that gamers will not be disappointed by the new game skyrocketed this week, however, when the original game's developer and industry legend Warren Spector announced he was leaving academia specifically to design System Shock 3.

In an interview with Polygon, Spector explained that he is working part-time on the project while finishing his tenure at the University of Texas at Austin, and will be working full time - beginning with replaying the original and its sequel, System Shock 2, which was developed by an external team. Spector also indicated that he was keen to bring together hsi old colleagues, and would look to recruit staff who worked on the original two titles.

Presently, System Shock 3 has no release date.