If Phil Spencer really wants to bring back Hexen, the System Shock remake devs are standing by

Nightdive Studios, the folks behind this year’s System Shock remake, are open to working on Hexen, assuming Xbox boss Phil Spencer is serious about bringing it back.

Microsoft’s head of gaming has gradually become one of the industry’s most visible advocates for Raven Software’s mid-90s FPS in recent years, having rocked up to June’s Xbox Games Showcase wearing a shirt emblazoned with its box art. “That wasn’t me trying to pre-announce (a reboot of) it,” Spencer told Polygon at the time, “but it was me recognizing the importance of some of the games in our portfolio.”

Well, after Spencer mentioned the game again during a recent appearance on the Official Xbox Podcast, which mainly saw the exec spend a lot of time discussing what the plan is following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, he’s now had his bluff called.

In response to a clip from the podcast of Spencer joking that when Hexen will be returning is “the big burning question that everybody would like to know”, Nightdive lead engine developer Samuel Villarreal has let the Xbox boss know that the studio would be up for working on the series.

“Just letting you know, having a long running history and extensive knowledge with Heretic and Hexen, just want to point out that me and my team are very well suited for the job,” Villarreal tweeted after tagging Spencer, adding: “Just saying.”

In addition to System Shock, Nightdive Studios, which is known for updating classic titles to work with current hardware in a manner that aids the preservation of the medium’s history, has also worked on remasters of games like Quake 2 and Westwood Studios’ Blade Runner game.

Fittingly, part of Spencer’s interview on the podcast saw him discuss the idea of using Xbox Game Pass to facilitate revisits to certain franchises each year.

“I tease about things like Hexen just because I remember playing it as a kid,” he explained, “But I do think when you look across all of the franchises that are part of our teams, there’s an opportunity for us to go back, even if it’s just to recognise the moment and what those things meant in gaming’s history.”

While it remains to be seen whether or not a Hexen remake might hit Game Pass at some point down the line, it’s still pretty stacked this month, with Like a Dragon: Ishin, Dead Space and Cities Skylines 2 are all set to arrive on the service in October.