In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Larry Kuperman (Head of Business Development at Nightdive Studios) confirmed that his company, alongside Alcon Entertainment, are remastering the 1997 point and click Blade Runner videogame for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Switch.
When it released in 1997, the Blade Runner game received glowing praise near-universally, even being awarded the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science's (AIAS) Adventure Game of the Year' award. Telling a unique and dynamic story, the title saw players fill the worn trench coat of Ray McCoy on a journey that tackles similar themes to Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner film.
The game's original source code was lost when Westwood Studios, the game's original developers, moved to LA from Las Vegas in 2003 following a merger with EA. In the face of this, Nightdive "painstakingly reverse-engineered" the non-original code and ported it to its proprietary 'KEX' engine, known for the successful remasters of titles like Doom 64, System Shock and Turok.
In addition to full alternative language support, the remaster will boast the following modernised features:
- Sharper character models
- Updated animations
- Polished cutscenes
- Widescreen support
- Fully customisable keyboard and controller inputs
Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is planned for release later this year.
