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Cyberpunk Video Game System Shock May Get a Live-Action TV Series

Binge, the upcoming streaming service for gaming-based entertainment, made the announcement.

Image for article titled Cyberpunk Video Game System Shock May Get a Live-Action TV Series
Image: Nightdive Studios

If you were a fan of first-person shooter video games in the mid-’90s, you may remember 1994's System Shock. And if you remember it, chances are you remember it very fondly, and thus will be very excited to hear that Binge has announced a live-action TV adaptation of the cult-classic cyberpunk game for its upcoming, game-inspired-entertainment streaming service.

Released in 1994 and set in 2072, System Shock pitted a nameless hacker against a malicious and increasingly unhinged AI named SHODAN and her legion of killer cyborgs, killer robots, and killer mutants while trapped on a giant space station. Here, check out some footage from the 2015 remake System Shock: Enhanced Edition from Nightdive Studios:

As you can see, it’s a very evocative setting, but like most classic first-person shooters there’s not a ton of narrative to it. The player gets fed information and mission objectives from Rebecca Golding, a “TriOptimum counter-terrorism consultant” (TriOptimum owns the space station), which are mainly about thwarting the myriad ways SHODAN plans to attack humanity. There are also various log discs and emails the player can find, that flesh out the work and the lives of the people on the space station before they were murdered/mutated, which certainly adds some depth, but there’s going to need to be a lot added to turn this into a TV show.

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The reason I’m hedging my bets and saying System Shock may get a TV series is because I’m somewhat skeptical of Binge’s ability to... uh... exist. The service was announced this past June, and despite supposedly coming in 2022, it’s only revealed one other series based on Driver, another old video game series. Two shows do not a streaming service make, and Binge has released no other details about what’s coming other than “exclusive shows, premium channels, and original live-action series where your favorite games come to life” which is extremely vague, especially when 2022 is just around the corner.

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Hopefully I’m wrong and we’ll all be enjoying System Shock: The TV Series on Binge sometime next year. But I don’t believe I’ll be holding my breath.

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