Baldur's Gate 3 In Long-Term Picture, Says Beamdog

By Kevin Parrish
published

The two upcoming Enhanced Editions could be followed by a Kickstarter-funded Baldur's Gate 3.

Last week brought a little excitement to Baldur's Gate fans thanks to Beamdog and a countdown timer planted on the baldursgate.com website. Once the numbers hit zero, the company revealed that Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition was in the works, set for a summer release, followed by Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced Edition. While updated versions with new and original content sound fascinating, it was still a little disappointing that the announcement had nothing to do with an actual third installment to the classic series.

But there's still a glimmer of hope. According to Beamdog/Overhaul's Cameron Tofer, Baldur's Gate 3 has been the team's long term goal. "We have a lot of things to put in place before such a project can be launched," he said. "So currently there is no such project but that's the one we want to do. Our thoughts have been that Enhanced Edition for Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 just make sense before there's any Baldur's Gate 3."

"We're totally thinking Kickstarter," he added. "It just makes so much sense and solves so many problems. I think what Brian [Fargo] is doing with Wasteland is very interesting."

Tofer is referring to a Kickstarter campaign to fund a sequel to the 1988 role-playing game Wasteland. With 28 days to go, the campaign has thus far acquired 25,955 backers and pledges worth $1,381,330 USD (the goal is $900,000 USD). inXile will reportedly use the extra money to primarily build a bigger world with more maps, stories and music, but if the fund reaches $1.5 million, the team will add even more environments, story elements, characters and challenges. There would even be an OS X version.

As for the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, Tofer provided a little more insight into what will be new. "We've been adding side stories, stories to tie things together, unfinished stories," Tofer said. "As far as new types of abilities, we have more announcements coming. I truly believe that the story and the characters behind are timeless and will have no problem reaching a new generation. Technology will be the access barrier that we're hoping to eliminate."

Tofer talks more about the Enhanced Editions here with GameSpy.

Kevin Parrish
22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • alidan
    look at mass effect 1->2->3
    look at dragon age 1->2

    do we really want a Baldur's Gate 3 from current bioware?
    the enhanced editions are welcome because they shouldn't be screwing with whats already there, just making it play nice on a modern os/computer.
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    alidanlook at mass effect 1->2->3look at dragon age 1->2do we really want a Baldur's Gate 3 from current bioware? the enhanced editions are welcome because they shouldn't be screwing with whats already there, just making it play nice on a modern os/computer.
    Hehe, you're right. Not from current BioWare. ME3 is good but could've been even better had they not wasted their time on Kinect and such. BW needs to come back to PC and start making great games like NWN/KOTOR1 again!
    Reply
  • doyletdude
    Good thing Bioware isn't working on this intellectual property anymore. By the looks of things Baldur's Gate is owned by Atari and they are having this Beamdog developer work on the enhanced editions and possibly 3
    Reply
  • demonhorde665
    alidanlook at mass effect 1->2->3look at dragon age 1->2do we really want a Baldur's Gate 3 from current bioware? the enhanced editions are welcome because they shouldn't be screwing with whats already there, just making it play nice on a modern os/computer.
    i take it you missed out on the fact that this is being developed by Beam dog and published by Atari NOT bioware. for christ sakes , how many more peopel do i need to tell this too

    Bioware , no longer works for Atari here is teh relation of companies

    hasbro owns atari

    hasbro owns Wizards of The Coast

    Wizards of the coast Owns ALL things DnD , After TSR went bankrupt WoTC bought them adn all thier ip's and asorbed most of their work force. WoTC licenses DnD to Atari ONLY they don't license DnD IP to competitors this way

    Baldur's Gate is a city that is set in Forgotten realms which in turn is a DnD campaign world.
    when the BG series first came out it was being licensed to Black Isle through TSR , that license ended the day WoTC bought and absorbed TSR because WoTC now owned the IP. Bioware in turn started developing for Atari because WoTC wanted them to be the developers of the DnD Games and because it simplified matters to keep bioware in the loop, Black isle went chapter 11 however.

    Bioware hasn't worked for atari in a LONG time , Bioware works for EA now and has since before ME 1 came out i think the last game they did under atari was Jade Empire.

    now put these facts together and you should get to the conclusion that BIOWARE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS RE-RELEASE PROJECT.

    Reply
  • ethaniel
    Now now, no need to rush. We need the Enhanced editions of both Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 first, including expansions. After that, they really need to make an Enhanced edition of Planescape: Torment. THEN... we'll talk BG3.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    amk-aka-PhantomBW needs to come back to PC and start making great games like NWN/KOTOR1 again!but kotor is rubish? it's one of the least stable games I've tried if ignoring the initial release of heroes of might and magic 4 before patches
    Reply
  • @Demonhorde665 So close to a perfect score there, but just one niggling detail; Bioware doesn't *work* for EA now, EA actually completely owns Bioware. They're now a division of Electronic Arts, which breaks my heart.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    john_4Bioware is EA's new whore and it shows, look how pathetic Dragon Age 2 was.
    It wasn't as bad as the first in technical terms, so there is hope. But I'd rather have a game full of Leliana than more dwarves ...
    Reply
  • Lord Captivus
    Please dont change the difficulty level on the Enhanced Edition! dont "level" fights!
    I loved to get my ass kicked when i entered the wrong room at the wrong time...(OMG! Did that guy just summon a Dragon!!)
    Ok...ill be see YOU soon...

    - Exit
    - Load

    ...Few days later...

    - Guess whos BACK!!
    Reply
  • Antimatter79
    demonhorde665i take it you missed out on the fact that this is being developed by Beam dog and published by Atari NOT bioware. for christ sakes , how many more peopel do i need to tell this too Bioware , no longer works for Atari here is teh relation of companies hasbro owns atari hasbro owns Wizards of The CoastWizards of the coast Owns ALL things DnD , After TSR went bankrupt WoTC bought them adn all thier ip's and asorbed most of their work force. WoTC licenses DnD to Atari ONLY they don't license DnD IP to competitors this way Baldur's Gate is a city that is set in Forgotten realms which in turn is a DnD campaign world. when the BG series first came out it was being licensed to Black Isle through TSR , that license ended the day WoTC bought and absorbed TSR because WoTC now owned the IP. Bioware in turn started developing for Atari because WoTC wanted them to be the developers of the DnD Games and because it simplified matters to keep bioware in the loop, Black isle went chapter 11 however. Bioware hasn't worked for atari in a LONG time , Bioware works for EA now and has since before ME 1 came out i think the last game they did under atari was Jade Empire. now put these facts together and you should get to the conclusion that BIOWARE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS RE-RELEASE PROJECT.
    Thanks so much for breaking it down. I had given up understanding the history over the years. I just know I love me some Baldur's Gate. If they can pull off Baldur's Gate 3 and it's at least as good as the previous releases, it will be a testament to what level of gaming experience can be achieved with a relatively small budget. Maybe more big companies will learn and adopt the philosophy that you can do more with less, and use the extra funds for more content, not big budget trailers that have nothing to do with how the game plays, and pop-up ads on website that nobody is going to click on anyways. Thanks again for the brief yet informative history lesson.
    Reply