Game publisher Starbreeze has sold the publishing rights for System Shock 3 to developer OtherSide Entertainment. Starbreeze invested over 11 million euros two years ago in the development of the game in exchange for those rights.

In addition to the initial investment in 2017, Starbreeze put more money into it in the course of the game, but it is unknown how much. It is not known what OtherSide pays for the publishing rights, but Starbreeze’s announcement states that the company expects to recover its investments. The Swedish company now needs the money because it is in financial trouble.

The consequences for OtherSide Entertainment are not yet clear. In any case, the studio seems to have to pay at least 11 million euros and will have to look for another publisher or to publish the game itself. However, it may also mean that the studio now has more creative freedom on development.

The financial problems of Starbreeze are largely due to the disappointing revenues of Overkill’s The Walking Dead. That game was in development since 2014 and came out in 2018. Starbreeze, which had previously achieved success with Payday 2, had high expectations of the zombie game, but they did not come out. According to reports, only about a hundred thousand copies of the game have been sold. Figures from SteamCharts show that there are hardly any active players. The average number of simultaneous players in the last thirty days is 417.

Eurogamer wrote an extensive story about the tests of Starbreeze at the end of January. The site has spoken with more than a dozen current and former employees.