Nightdive Studios announce that SiN: Reloaded, a remaster of the 1998 cult classic FPS, will release in 2026 for PC and consoles. This release will include enhanced remastered visuals, modernized control schemes, and the Wages of SiN extra missions pack.
In SiN: Reloaded, you play as Colonel John R. Blade, a security consultant tasked with going up against Dr. Elexis Sinclaire. Sinclaire is the CEO of SinTEK Industries, a company that just started to inject people with a new drug that can alter their DNA and turn them into dangerous mutants.
The original game was built on the Quake 2 engine. At the time, the game was "lauded for introducing a groundbreaking amount of interactivity in every level." Players can hack into areas by using computer terminals and cause mayhem via security cameras and remote elevator control. Players also get around some areas by way of a variety of vehicles such as a patrol boat, forklift, and helicopter.
SiN: Reloaded features branching paths that incentivizes you to play through again making different choices. The original game also included the ability to knock weapons from enemy's hands and take location-specific damage from attacks. This was all really quite revolutionary in the late 90s when the game first released.
SiN Episodes: Emergence was the first episode of a nine-part sequel for the original SiN. This 2006 title was built on the Source Engine by Ritual Entertainment. In 2007, Ritual was acquired by casual game maker MumboJumbo. Several key Ritual employees left the company following the acquisition. The remaining episodes were never officially cancelled, but it's probably safe to say they will, unfortunately, never be finished and released at this point.
SiN: Reloaded will arrive later this year for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Steam, GOG, and Epic.
SiN: Reloaded includes the Wages of SiN mission pack, where you go up against a diabolical mafia boss with a new army of dangerous freaks. Both games have been optimized using the KEX Engine to play on modern systems. Graphics have been beautifully remastered with new textures, while control schemes have been modernized, and maps have been improved with Nightdive’s established precision. There’s never been a better way to get … naughty.
Features
Features
- Play the original SiN and the SiN: Wages of Sin mission pack, optimized using the KEX Engine
- Beautifully remastered graphics with HD textures and models (up to) 4K resolution at 144 FPS, anti-aliasing, and upgraded 2D screens and menu art
- Overhauled control schemes and modernized UI for gamepads and M&K
- Improved maps throughout the game
- Swap between remastered visuals and the original SiN Gold version
- Brand-new achievements
- Higher resolution Zak Belika tracks mixed/engineered by Chris Mock
- A vault filled with exclusive, behind-the-scenes material
Nightdive Studios ended up developing the remaster? Weird! From their (one person who remembered to update after a ton of radio silence) August announcement after 3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks were dropped (acquisitions, Phantom Fury, etc.), I was under the impression Nightdive was implying they would look for a replacement developer to use their Kex Engine. I thought Nightdive Studios would provide the engine and tech support for it, while the contracted developer would do the actual remaster. I say this considering Nightdive Studios has so many concurrent projects, that SiN: Reloaded isn't their priority. It's not cancelled since they had to repeatedly assure angry and skeptical Steam users (from my reading of the Steam Discussion Forums), but it seemed to be in development Hell until they find someone else, given how busy they are with other seemingly bigger projects. So to find out Nightdive Studios is the sole company behind this remaster is rather surprising to me, although I do wonder how much time they put into SiN: Reloaded, since all footage is still early despite having a 2026 release date.
As for SiN Episodes, I liked the characters and timeline of the story as well as the statistics Ritual Entertainment collected to ensure better future games, but I didn't like how much they copied VALVe during their Half-Life 2 era. SiN felt like Ritual looked at Duke Nukem and improved it with their own style and flavor to make it their own, but SiN Episodes (to me and me specifically since it's only one episode) felt more like VALVe Software made the damn game, ignoring the episodic release model "failure" since Ritual Entertainment probably would've succeeded on that one if they weren't acquired. Blade (and it's Colonel John R. Blade, although it would be cooler if it was Deathstroke instead - Zips I'm looking at you and ignoring the ton of other articles just posted in a very timely manner) spoke WAY LESS compared to his Duke Nukem inspired past self, and the interactivity with the environment was reduced so much (not gone, since there's still interactive screens and whatnot, but reduced). But I did love the new Magnum with the secondary fire using the very material they were trying to stop. It ended up being the most used weapon statistically because of how much stopping power it had, and how plentiful ammo was. Do I miss the series ending after one episode? Yes, devastated actually. Do I wish Ritual Entertainment would review episode one and try to change it back to classic SiN instead of copying VALVe Software (in my opinion - I don't recall anyone saying they copied VALVe, so it's just me and only me)? Also yes, but their statistics would've told me what to improve on, regardless of whether it addresses my concerns or not.
And do I think Counter-Strike: Condition Zero sucked? Yes. Yes it did. I finished the Deleted Scenes and the only fun I had were the Easter Eggs. Everything else was comically terrible. I also finished the main game from Turtle Rock Studios and equally hated how unbalanced it was (AI was great - the bot AI.... The kind of AI that we liked in the past.... Video game AI!.....NOT THAT AI). Like the difficulty ramp is way too high to be fun. It'd be more fair for me to face off against two professional eSports competitors instead. So I hated Condition Zero both for what Ritual Entertainment crapped out, and what Turtle Rock Studios designed. But I am glad Ritual Entertainment made SiN Episodes: Emergence. That was good and deserved a return.
I'm also glad this isn't cancelled, so I can keep it on my wishlist since the launch of the store page.