Night Dive Studios - How One Company is Bringing Games Back from the Dead

@fastcompany Jared Newman interviews Stephen Kick on the history of Night Dive Studios

These sorts of calls are part of what Kick and his colleagues at Night Dive Studios do for a living. Night Dive, based in Vancouver, Washington, is in the business of reviving long-lost video games, a process that's rarely as simple as making old code work on new computers. Figuring out who owns the rights to these games can take detective work, and the negotiations don't always pan out. So far, Night Dive has only published about 60% of the games it has pursued.

Still, when the company succeeds, the payoff can be significant. Nostalgia sells, especially in gaming, where old favorites are constantly rendered unplayable by new hardware. While it's not unusual for major publishers to revisit their past-Nintendo, for instance, dedicates a section of its downloadable game shop to the classics-Night Dive is unique in that much of its catalog doesn't consist of obvious slam dunks. Even its highest-profile releases, such as System Shock 2 and The 7th Guest, are cult classics at best.

Night Dive Studios are remaking some games going forward and acquiring ip outright. As well as looking at the possibility to develop sequels through external partners.

From Revivals To Remakes

During our conversation, I ask Kick if he ever sees himself tiring of this line of work. After all, he entered the games industry as an artist, but now spends most of his days managing staff and talking with rights holders. He responds by noting that every day is different, and insists he's in it for the long haul.

Still, Night Dive's business is starting to change. With most of its current catalog, Night Dive merely licenses the rights for a rerelease, and splits the sales revenue with the rights holder. Night Dive is becoming more interested in acquiring rights in their entirety, as this gives the company much more flexibility.

One example: Night Dive is developing a full remake of the original System Shock, going well beyond the basic rerelease that launched a couple months ago. Night Dive has acquired the full rights to the franchise, and Kick says he's been working with Robert Waters, the game's original concept artist, to reimagine his designs from the early 1990s.

"Seeing the difference between his artistic abilities back then compared to now, and his ablity to reinterpret those ideas, it's just been really exciting for us," Kick says.

Part of the plan for this remake also includes a console version, which would be a first for Night Dive. Kuperman believes much of the company's future growth will come from creating console adaptations for more PC games, along with some ports for mobile devices.

We may even see a System Shock 3 someday, though Night Dive would need a larger publisher to take on the task. Kuperman says the company is "having some conversations" on this front. "To really do another game in that series is going to take resources and time and commitment that we don't have, and it's really not our core business," Kuperman says. (Until now, 2K Games’ Bioshock series has stood in as a spiritual successor.)