An enhanced version of the game, The Showdown Effect: Reloaded was developed by GIII Holdings and released on 5 March 2024 via Steam.

On 8 February 2012, Paradox Interactive has announced that three new games would be revealed at GDC that year, including code name "Project JFK", which would later become The Showdown Effect.

Pilestedt continued, commenting on some movies that were used for inspiration during the creation of the game, especially in the graphics: "It is close to the work of Tarantino.

Pilestedt also mentioned to the interviewer that animations in the film Ghost in the Machine and in Team Fortress 2 served as inspiration.

[6] According to Pilestedt, after testing several different mechanical controls, decided to stay only with the keyboard and mouse because "if you have high damage and you hit all the bullets, the game goes to be about who pulled the trigger first."

The version presented during the PAX East of 2012 had full support gamepad, which was removed after discussions about the game focus more on quick reflexes.