Incline What happened to Beamdog?

[Monkey Baron]

I was a big fan of Siege of Dragonspear and their awesome "enhanced" editions! Just kidding, they were lazy money grabs. But seriously, what happened to them? Did they stop getting the license to butcher classics? Looks like the last thing they released was an adaption of the board game Axis & Allies 1942. Is this their new franchise that they're set on ruining?

I also found that key Chris Avellone witness David Gaider used to work there but left in 2018.

 

[Urthor]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beamdog

I strongly suspect the answer is, Neverwinter Nights enhanced has not sold well.

I imagine their business model of "remastering" famous old RPGs ended when the supply of actual famous old RPGs dried up. Now they're making their own brand new RPG.

 

[deuxhero]

Last I heard of them, the latest of several original titles got canceled. No idea what they're currently working on.

I actually wouldn't mind an Arcanum or Temple of Elemental Evil Enhanced Edition if it got the gears moving to let Tim Cain release the source code for them (from what I recall he has it preserved, but can't release it because his contract with either Activison or Atari prevents him releasing stuff that could bypass the CD check DRM the games are no longer sold with). The EE wouldn't be worth playing, but source access would be huge for the original.

 

[ADULF HITLOR FAN KLUB]

They are currently dewveloping and self-publishing Axis & Allies 1942 Online, which is some game that nobody cares about. They are also still releasing patches for the Enhanced Editions on a regular basis.

No idea what else they might be working on.

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

I recall they were really pinning their hopes on developing Baldur's Gate 3, and their "Enhanced Editions" were a way to show they understood the source material ("Hey, we have guys who worked on the originals!") and would be best suited to expand on it.

That turned out well.

 

[Morality Games]

They created concepts for a Planescape sequel. I don't remember if they pitched it, but obviously it's not being made.

Then they did some work on a isometric fantasy/western mashup (like Shadowrun, but the West). That hasn't gone anywhere.

 

[octavius]

They are biding their time. When the time is ripe, when gaming "journalists" have mostly forgotten about the EEs and a new batch of consumers have not heard about the EEs, they will release Remasters of their Enhanced Editions.

 

[Harthwain]

They are currently dewveloping and self-publishing Axis & Allies 1942 Online, which is some game that nobody cares about.

Actually, considering how most board game adaptations fare it is somewhat popular.

 

[d1r]

I do wonder if they actually had a BG3 in the Infinity Engine in mind...

 

[rusty_shackleford]

They're working on a first person RPG in Unreal Engine 4.
Source:
their careers page

 

[Tacgnol]

I recall they were really pinning their hopes on developing Baldur's Gate 3, and their "Enhanced Editions" were a way to show they understood the source material ("Hey, we have guys who worked on the originals!") and would be best suited to expand on it.

That turned out well.

This was almost certainly their (rather naïve) plan.

Their mistake was assuming Wizards/Hasbro would entrust it to them of all people.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I recall they were really pinning their hopes on developing Baldur's Gate 3, and their "Enhanced Editions" were a way to show they understood the source material ("Hey, we have guys who worked on the originals!") and would be best suited to expand on it.

That turned out well.

This was almost certainly their (rather naïve) plan.

Their mistake was assuming Wizards/Hasbro would entrust it to them of all people.

It was a pretty good plan, actually. Have you seen typical WotC-licensed D&D video games?
The best D&D game released in years is probably that strategy/political-sim Waterdeep game.

 

[Tacgnol]

I recall they were really pinning their hopes on developing Baldur's Gate 3, and their "Enhanced Editions" were a way to show they understood the source material ("Hey, we have guys who worked on the originals!") and would be best suited to expand on it.

That turned out well.

This was almost certainly their (rather naïve) plan.

Their mistake was assuming Wizards/Hasbro would entrust it to them of all people.

It was a pretty good plan, actually. Have you seen typical WotC-licensed D&D video games?
The best D&D game released in years is probably that strategy/political-sim Waterdeep game.

My perspective is more that Wizards would never have given the BG license to a fairly niche developer. It's a big name franchise for them.

At the very least Wizards probably would have wanted something AA (or even arguably AAA if you consider Larian as such).

I'm not sure Beamdog ever had the capability to make high budget games like that, least not without a massive expansion of their studio.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I recall they were really pinning their hopes on developing Baldur's Gate 3, and their "Enhanced Editions" were a way to show they understood the source material ("Hey, we have guys who worked on the originals!") and would be best suited to expand on it.

That turned out well.

This was almost certainly their (rather naïve) plan.

Their mistake was assuming Wizards/Hasbro would entrust it to them of all people.

It was a pretty good plan, actually. Have you seen typical WotC-licensed D&D video games?
The best D&D game released in years is probably that strategy/political-sim Waterdeep game.

My perspective is more that Wizards would never have given the BG license to a fairly niche developer. It's a big name franchise for them.

At the very least Wizards probably would have wanted something AA (or even arguably AAA if you consider Larian as such).

I'm not sure Beamdog ever had the capability to make high budget games like that, least not without a massive expansion of their studio.

Dark Alliance 1 & 2 were one of their better selling video game series(and a part of BG itself) and they gave it to a complete nobody.

 

[Tacgnol]

I recall they were really pinning their hopes on developing Baldur's Gate 3, and their "Enhanced Editions" were a way to show they understood the source material ("Hey, we have guys who worked on the originals!") and would be best suited to expand on it.

That turned out well.

This was almost certainly their (rather naïve) plan.

Their mistake was assuming Wizards/Hasbro would entrust it to them of all people.

It was a pretty good plan, actually. Have you seen typical WotC-licensed D&D video games?
The best D&D game released in years is probably that strategy/political-sim Waterdeep game.

My perspective is more that Wizards would never have given the BG license to a fairly niche developer. It's a big name franchise for them.

At the very least Wizards probably would have wanted something AA (or even arguably AAA if you consider Larian as such).

I'm not sure Beamdog ever had the capability to make high budget games like that, least not without a massive expansion of their studio.

Dark Alliance 1 & 2 were one of their better selling video game series(and a part of BG itself) and they gave it to a complete nobody.

Dark Alliance predates Critical Role and the normie obsession with 5e. The same target audience that love Critical Role also seem to love Larian and Original Sin 2.

Wizards probably saw it as two birds with one stone. Revive a famous franchise and appeal to the Critical Role crowd at the same time.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The same target audience that love Critical Role also seem to love Larian and Original Sin 2.

you are fake news

 

[Tacgnol]

You seem upset.

 

[Narushima]

They are currently dewveloping and self-publishing Axis & Allies 1942 Online, which is some game that nobody cares about.

If you want to play Axis & Allies, or other board games of that type, offline or online, I recommend TripleA.

 

[Kruno]

I strongly suspect the answer is, Neverwinter Nights enhanced has not sold well.

They have put out major patches over the last year. I don't think they would waste money if that was the case.

 

[Urthor]

I strongly suspect the answer is, Neverwinter Nights enhanced has not sold well.

They have put out major patches over the last year. I don't think they would waste money if that was the case.

Alternative theory, Beamdog are actually not complete morons unlike whoever is behind the Nier Automata scandal. They understand that patching your video game is fairly low effort, and an excellent way to make consumers happy so they tell their friends to buy your game. The long tail of steam revenue is very considerable.

I don't actually work at Beamdog though.

Maybe Neverwinter sold like the moon and they are preparing a rehash of its expansions?

I am guessing however that "Baldur's Gate 1/2 enhanced edition" would sell *many* more copies, than Neverwinter, given how much more love those games had.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I was a big fan of Siege of Dragonspear and their awesome "enhanced" editions! Just kidding, they were lazy money grabs.

But seriously, what happened to them? Did they stop getting the license to butcher classics?

They started to play their EE and choked on their own vomit.
At last, we can say their "work" served its own purpose...

 

[Gargaune]

I strongly suspect the answer is, Neverwinter Nights enhanced has not sold well.

They have put out major patches over the last year. I don't think they would waste money if that was the case.

I suspect the answer's somewhere in the middle - didn't make enough waves to warrant further investment in full-sized expansions like TotM (especially if there are WotC licensing overheads in the mix), but probably still constitutes a steady stream of income to justify continued development. NWN EE is still a live project and the latest patch, with that community content browser in particular, shows Beamdog still has ongoing plans there.

As for what else they're working on, Rusty's already pointed to their jobs listings. If I recall correctly, back when NWN EE was launched and people were asking about NWN2, Trent said it wasn't in the cards and already suggested that they were keen to shift from EEs to brand new IP of their own. Which was actually kinda disappointing, because NWN2 is the one title that could benefit the most from an EE treatment.

 

[Orud]

If I'd have a guess, I'd agree with Gargaune. I'm quite sure that I recall Beamdog stating themselves, during a livestream, that NWN EE didn't sell as well as they hoped it would.

I'm also quite sure that it was in response to someone asking them about the status of their plan to remaster most, if not all, ingame models (weapons, players, etc...). You can still find their early forays into this project in the market place, made when they were still working on expected sales numbers instead of actual.

 

[v1rus]

They played the wrong hand of cards.

When I was contracted to do some freelance work on their Baldurs Gate 3 - Monoliths of Karhem, I was at first excited. It seemed like a different take on the formula, inspired by Polynesian mythology. But when I got there, it was a train-wreck. they had no design architecture, they did not have a single demo running despite months and months of "work," which I put quotes around because it consisted of a bunch of losers having meetings around a failed actor's table each week arguing trivia. Until I came to work for them, I gathered there wasn't anybody on the team who had the foggiest idea of how to develop a computer game.

The worst thing was they hired some lunatic who had a cameo on third Harry Potter film, he was an "actor" and an "artist". The corporate blindly followed his "artistic vision", because he was "a real artist". The worst thing was, you literally couldnt walk into the guys flat without stumbling on a dildo, or an underage male kid the god darn pedo bought home to "play some of his games". They literally had designs on monsters that looked like a vaginasaurus and some creepy scaly shit.

 

[AdamReith]

What was the story with them failing to rewrite some renderer for NWN:EE?

Maybe they just realised that they don't actually have the technical capacity to move beyond adding bugs to the infinity engine.

When you can't write or code, maybe it's time to shut your doors. I don't care for Larian games but at least they work and look decent.