System Shock 2. 13 great games that were financial flops

Marek Jura

System Shock 2

  1. Release date: 1999
  2. Genre: Action RPG
  3. Greatest advantages: Plot, atmosphere, combat mechanics

System Shock 2 turned out to be a breakthrough in so many ways that it's difficult to even outline its revolutionary potential in a few sentences. Believe it or not, but the combination of a first-person shooter with horror was not the industry standard at the time. And the creators of System Shock 2 also added RGP elements, a cyberpunk lore and an original storyline.

SHODAN turned out to be such a fascinating antagonist that it somehow exceeded the popularity of the game itself. Today, it is recognized even by players who have never had the opportunity to play the original System Shock. The notoriously lying and bluffing AI is only one of the advantages of this atmospheric shooter, which we recently had the opportunity to experience in a decent remaster.

With this awareness, it's mind-boggling to realize that by April 2000, sales of the game did not even exceed 60,000 copies! Yet at the same time, Josh Randall's production won as many as seven Game of the Year titles and a lot of smaller awards. How come? It's very likely that players were discouraged by rotations in the team working on System Shock 2 and bugs that often appeared in the first version. In this case, however, the objectively high quality of the game ultimately translated into commercial success. In a way, at least. What do we mean? Well, the BioShock games – the spiritual heirs of System Shock – achieved excellent financial results.

  1. System Shock 2 in our encyclopedia

The Evil Within 2

October 13, 2017

PC PlayStation Xbox
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Bulletstorm

February 22, 2011

PC PlayStation Xbox
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System Shock 2

August 11, 1999

PC
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Shenmue I & II

August 21, 2018

PC PlayStation Xbox
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Beyond Good & Evil

November 11, 2003

PC PlayStation Xbox Nintendo
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Okami

September 19, 2006

PlayStation Nintendo
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Psychonauts

April 19, 2005

PC PlayStation Xbox
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Planescape: Torment

December 10, 1999

PC
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Original War

June 15, 2001

PC
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Quake Champions

August 18, 2022

PC
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Grim Fandango (1998)

November 30, 1998

PC
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Marek Jura

Author: Marek Jura

In 2016, he graduated in philology at UAM. Since then, he has been reviewing prose, poetry, movies, series, and video games for GRYOnline.pl. He took his first steps in the journalism industry as a newsman in a local tabloid. He ran his own company - he designed, created, tested, and sold board games. He published several short stories and is also preparing his debut volume of poetry. Trains martial arts. A feminist, vegan, fan of pineapple on pizza, cat lover, dislikes Bethesda and Amazon, likes Lovecraft, Agents of SHIELD, P:T, Beksiński, Hollow Knight, performance, abstract art, game mods and dumplings.