| Baldur's Gate | |
|---|---|
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| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Developer(s) | |
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| First release | Baldur's Gate December 21, 1998 |
| Latest release | Baldur's Gate 3 August 3, 2023 |
Baldur's Gate is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The series has been divided into two sub-series, known as the Bhaalspawn Saga and the Dark Alliance, both taking place mostly within the Western Heartlands, but the Bhaalspawn Saga extends to Amn and Tethyr. The Dark Alliance series was released for consoles and was critically and commercially successful. The Bhaalspawn Saga was critically acclaimed for using pausable realtime gameplay, which is credited with revitalizing the computer role-playing game (CRPG) genre.
The Bhaalspawn Saga was originally developed by BioWare for personal computers. Beamdog and its division Overhaul Games developed remakes of the original games in HD.[1] The Dark Alliance series was originally set to be developed by Snowblind Studios, but ports were handled by Black Isle Studios, High Voltage Software, and Magic Pockets, with the second game developed by Black Isle.
Black Isle Studios had planned a third series to be set in the Dalelands and be a PC-exclusive hack and slash game with pausable real-time gameplay. The game would not have been connected to the Bhaalspawn Saga series. The game was cancelled when Interplay forfeited the D&D PC license to Atari.[2]
The series was revived in 2012 with Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, an update of the original Baldur's Gate using an enhanced Infinity Engine. The release of the Enhanced Edition marked the first release in the series in eight years, and was followed by an enhanced edition of the second Baldur's Gate called Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition.[3] Beamdog was granted permission to develop new games with the license, such as Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, an expansion for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.[4] The license was later given to Larian Studios, who developed and published Baldur's Gate 3, released in 2023.
- ^ Carmichael, Stephanie (May 4, 2012). "Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition confirmed for PC". GameZone. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- ^ "Foletto explains the Black Hound". Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
- ^ "Baldur's Gate – Enhanced Edition Pricing, Release Date Announced". IGN Canada. July 26, 2012. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- ^ "Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 Enhanced Edition team making new in-between game". eurogamer.net. January 9, 2015. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.