Nightdive Studios built a business on abandonware, from System Shock 2 to a remake

Vancouver, Washington, studio that re-publishes and remasters out-of-print 1990s PC and console games and remade System Shock.

That cult PC classics left in IP limbo can be legally re-released for modern computers and sell well enough to fund more.

Friends-and-family loans at founding; System Shock remake funded via Kickstarter (per GeekWire)

In 2012 Stephen Kick quit his job as a character artist from burnout and travelled through Latin America. In Guatemala he couldn't install or legally buy System Shock 2, learned it was out of print and the top request on Good Old Gaming, and emailed the insurance company's lawyer that held the rights. He proposed re-releasing the games digitally, and co-founded Nightdive in November 2012 with Alix using money borrowed from friends and family.

Nightdive re-published System Shock 2 on Valentine's Day 2013, and it sold well immediately, giving Kick capital to look for more out-of-print titles. Since then, Kick says, it has brought back at least a hundred abandonware games, including Quake, Forsaken, Doom 64 and The 7th Guest.

In May 2023 Nightdive released its Kickstarter-funded System Shock remake after a seven-year effort; Kick says he now works full-time on game preservation.

System Shock 2's rights were stuck between Electronic Arts and an insurance company after Looking Glass collapsed in 2000, so neither game was on sale.

Kick saw demand: System Shock 2 was the single most requested game by users of Good Old Gaming.

The insurer needed to secure the System Shock trademark just as EA's was set to lapse, so Kick's commercial re-release suited both sides.

Value can sit in assets nobody is monetizing; the winning move is to untangle the rights and make the product legally easy to buy.

As of 6 August 2023, Kick was delivering patches for the System Shock remake, including promised features from its Kickstarter such as choosing the player character's gender, and still hunting for retro projects. Nightdive's untangling of No One Lives Forever, in his words, depends on getting rights holders to care; the accounts of the founding are Kick's own.