Baldur's Gate 3 Dream Begins to Fade - UPDATED

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Baldur's Gate 3 Dream Begins to Fade - UPDATED


Beamdog remains "interested in the concept" of Baldur's Gate 3 but the odds of it actually happening are starting to look pretty slim.

One of the most exciting things about Beamdog's remakes of the Baldur's Gate games is the possibility they raise of Baldur's Gate 3, an all-new game in one of the most storied fantasy-RPG franchises of all time. It's a bit of a tricky thing, since Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal ended with some serious finality, but it could be done, perhaps with a bit of a Planescape-y twist, and more importantly, there was a hint of a hope that it might actually happen.

Beamdog co-founder Cameron Tofer actually spoke to that point in March 2012 when he said that Baldur's Gate 3 "has been our removal [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116392-Baldurs-Gate-3-is-the-Long-Term-Goal] of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition from online stores and pulled the plug on Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition have also made the dream of Baldur's Gate 3 considerably more distant.

"The prognosis [for resuming work on Baldur's Gate] is mixed," he said. "Best case, we can sort this out soon. Worst case, this could be in legal hell for a while. I like making games, but this contractual dispute bullshit keeps me up at night."

"Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition is on indefinite hold, as is the current patch," he continued. "Baldur's Gate 3, we are still interested in the concept, but currently I'd say we're very demoralized."

The Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition website [http://www.baldursgate.com/] says Beamdog doesn't know when the game will be available again but insists that the studio will figure out some way to bring it back.

UPDATE: Some of you have noticed that the PC version of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is still available on Steam [http://store.steampowered.com/app/228280/]. According to a Beamdog rep, the Steam version of the game is managed by Atari and it's therefore up to it to have the game taken down. "Why they haven't done so yet, I'm not sure," the rep said.

On the assumption that the Steam version will at some point be pulled as well, if you have any interest in it, you might want to get a move on.

Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/06/24/beamdog-hoping-for-baldurs-gate-iii-despite-legal-hell/]



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Atmos Duality

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Baldur's Gate (at least the core series and not just the spinoffs) was pretty definitively ended in Throne of Bhaal.

A Part 3 would require a lot of backtracking or assumption to make it work, and if it's a new story, then...well it's a Part 3 in name only.
 

AWAR

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Come on! Just make a kickstarter and it's going to be funded by the end of the first day!
 

zidine100

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AWAR said:
Come on! Just make a kickstarter and it's going to be funded by the end of the first day!
i believe this is due to copyright issues more than anything, i dont think a kickstarter would help with that.
 

TWEWYFan

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Frankly, I'm not sure I'd mourn the lack of a sequel; it was a complete story and I'm afraid trying to stretch out another would just weaken the series as a whole. I will however mourn the loss of the enhanced Shadows of Amn.
 

GAunderrated

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I bought BG 1 and 2 on GoG a few days ago for 10 bucks total. I no longer care about BG3 or the EE that are having legal issues.
 

BloodSquirrel

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I don't know why people want Baldur's Gate 3 anyway. If you can make Baldur's Gate 3 without it being an insult to the original games, then you can make a new RPG with the same sensibilities but without worrying about rights and continuing a storyline that wasn't meant to be continued.
 

Steve Dark

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What. But I've been "just about to buy" BG: Enhanced Ed for the past howeverlong it's been out. Why is it now unavailable!? Sort it out, right THIS SECOND.
 

VanBasten

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Steve Dark said:
What. But I've been "just about to buy" BG: Enhanced Ed for the past howeverlong it's been out. Why is it now unavailable!? Sort it out, right THIS SECOND.
You can still buy it on Steam and directly from Atari.

It has only been pulled from Beamdog and Apple store.
 

Doom972

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Why does Baldur's Gate need a sequel? Either they'll pull a Samus Aran, or make a completely unrelated story and just call it Baldur's Gate 3. The story is done and there's no reason to ruin it.

Steve Dark said:
What. But I've been "just about to buy" BG: Enhanced Ed for the past howeverlong it's been out. Why is it now unavailable!? Sort it out, right THIS SECOND.
Ta da:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/228280/
 

Andy Chalk

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Okay, that's bizarre. It's gone from the App Store and Beamdog's own online store, and Atari's Baldur's Gate page is gone too. But it's still on Steam.

Time for some emails.
 

Anachronism

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Can't say I'll be shedding any tears over this. The story is done. If they wanted to tell a new one, then the only reason for calling it Baldur's Gate would be for brand recognition, and while that's not an illegitimate business strategy - it worked for Dark Alliance, after all - it does seem a little pointless in this case. And trying to carry on the Child of Bhaal story would almost inevitably have been disastrous.

Besides, there will soon be Project Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera to scratch that 90s RPG itch.
 

Smooth Operator

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Yeah I honestly am not saddened by this because BG: EE was really not good in the added content department, and those were just small snippets of their work, if they went onto a full game those shortcoming would be the entire game... that is just not a good formula.

Look if you have what it takes then just make a new IP, we still want to play those style of games and you won't piss us off by borking up Baldur's Gate, also no legal issues.
 

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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In case you missed the update, I got a response from Beamdog stating that the Steam version of the game is managed by Atari, and they have no idea why Atari hasn't pulled it yet. It'll presumably happen sooner or later.

As far as Baldur's Gate 3 goes, it doesn't necessarily have to be a direct extension. It could be a tale of the Sword Coast featuring a new character, or it could make "ascension" ending canon and go from there - hence my comment about a Planescape-flavoured sequel. There are ways to make it happen while still staying true to the original, and a new D&D RPG in the BG style is something I'd be very excited about.
 

RhombusHatesYou

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Between There and There.
Country
The Wide, Brown One.
Andy Chalk said:
There are ways to make it happen while still staying true to the original, and a new D&D RPG in the BG style is something I'd be very excited about.
That could be problematic as WotC are loathe to licence games that don't use their current rulesets... and I'd rather pick my nose with a mining drill than suffer through BG3 in D&D4e.

Of course if the wanted to try their hand at BG style RPG using a GOOD fantasy rule set I'd be willing to take a look at it.

Or, you know, they could grab some other good IP... Zombies are still selling, maybe they could licence All Flesh Must Be Eaten. Or, if they've been taking a lot of drugs, Pokethulu or the Geezers setting for Risus... hell, I'll even help browbeating S John Ross to get either of those deals done.
 

Arkynomicon

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I'm rather annoyed. I bought BG1 on the ipad (finally some real use for that hunk of junk) and was hoping BG2 would be coming out soonish so I could be enjoying it on that platform as well.

I hate copyright laws and large companies. A lot of the times they are sitting on IP's and products like a large greedy dragon.

Also, Icewind Dales is a superior game to BG1.
 

Carnagath

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I find that rather positive. Those devs can't even do a remake properly, you can get the same "remake" they did by modding the original game, and with much less problems as well. I can't imagine a full new Baldur's Gate from them would be anything other than catastrophic.
 

sturryz

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Atmos Duality said:
Baldur's Gate (at least the core series and not just the spinoffs) was pretty definitively ended in Throne of Bhaal.

A Part 3 would require a lot of backtracking or assumption to make it work, and if it's a new story, then...well it's a Part 3 in name only.
Yep, pretty much this. We really don't need a BG3, It was a great story that ended very conclusively. We don't require games that follow on the fame of a name to be successful. Why not base a game on something new? Like the extensive Dragonlance series of books, which has only really been touched on by crappy Nes sidescrollers.