Something to look forward to: Nightdive Studios has gained a reputation for remastering classic first-person shooters and has no intentions of stopping soon. Now we have a slightly better idea of which games the company might refresh next thanks to a viral tweet.
This week, the head of Nightdive Studios responded to a popular tweet in a way that hints at what retro remasters the company could currently have in development. Recent game industry events make some of the suggestions in the original tweet more likely than others.
After someone tweeted a grid of old-school FPSs asking respondents to pick one from each row, Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick quoted them, pointing out four that the studio already remastered and then saying more are on the way. The list of games Nightdive could still revisit is long, but Kick's tweet opens the way for some tantalizing speculation.
We've remastered 4 of these...with a few more on the way... https://t.co/GHhyXs5Z8B
— Stephen *Blade Kicker* Kick (@pripyatbeast) July 28, 2022
From the grid, Nightdive has ported the original Quake, Powerslave, Blood, and Doom 64 to modern platforms with multiple enhancements. Also from the original tweet, Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior have remasters (though the latter isn't available on consoles), while Rise of the Triad received a remake. Enhanced open-source versions of the Marathon games are freely available, and Chasm: The Rift will come to Steam in October.
From the rest, the two most likely candidates for the Nightdive treatment are Heretic and Hexen. Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard includes ownership of those games, and fans already hope the company will re-release them. Xbox head Phil Spencer mentioned Hexen when talking about the purchase in January. Microsoft began offering both titles free on PC through Xbox Insider earlier this month.
However, the Xbox Insider ports are relatively basic public trials. Nightdive could do something with Heretic and Hexen similar to how it enhanced Quake following Microsoft's Bethesda purchase. Another possibility from the grid is that the studio could follow Quake with Quake II and Quake III Arena. Even Wolfenstein 3D isn't out of the question.
Another beloved game mentioned here is Star Wars: Dark Forces. Kick expressed interest in the game in 2019, though it's unclear if Disney would let Nightdive remaster it. If that never happens, PC users may still receive a way to play the title with modern improvements as a source port is nearing a version 1.0 release.
GoldenEye also appears in the original tweet, and leaks from January indicated an imminent re-release. Microsoft has been trying to remaster the Nintendo 64 classic for years, but rumors suggest licensing problems have constantly dogged the project. Recent reports say the war in Ukraine has jeopardized the latest effort.
Alien Trilogy, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, and Redneck Rampage are other possibilities. None have gotten re-releases since their original launches. Of them, Unreal would certainly be the most popular.
Nightdive's most recent re-release was last month's Blade Runner. Currently, the company is preparing a remake of the original System Shock.
https://www.techspot.com/news/95458-nightdive-studios-teases-more-retro-fps-remasters.html
