Interplay Resurrecting Black Isle Studios, Apparently

NO FUCKING WAY =D =D =D =D =D

Is it wrong that my first thought involved Dark Alliance?

Once people have lost their jobs from a studio closure and moved on for years, "restarting" a company doesn't mean anything in regards to how I feel about studio closures.

Black Isle closed, it sucked, and it moved on in many different directions. That's pretty much it.

I dont care if none of the old guard will be on the new Black Isles. As long as they focus on RPGs and make them for the consoles and PC then I will be a happy man. If it turns out to be simply a way for them to port all their old stuff to iOS or something similar then I will be a sad panda.

I love Obsidian but there needs to be more studios like them since Bioware has effectively faded from what it was.

I've just buried my fond Black Isle memories in the cemetery of my mind, please don't go digging that corpse up Interplay.

Without the same talent, I doubt it will be up to their old output. On the other hand, we need more devs willing to dust off the old timey RPG mold.

It's not as awesome as it sounds without any of the classic talent involved. But if this means they're going to go back to the top-down isometric CRPG, then there's certainly potential for good to come out of it.

It's not entirely un-welcome for new talent to take their stabs at the great classic styles. We need to actually give them a chance rather than dote on the people who have moved on.

But yea, they aren't Black Isle until they make actually make a Black Isle game. I remain cautiously optimistic.

@Poki3 said:

If they're just going to resurrect the NAME of the studio for marketing reasons and have totally unrelated people, then Interplay can go to hell.

well, at least they're turning it into an RPG studio and not into a digital distribution platform. it may not be particularly original, but it seems extremely affable.

I bet those goofballs are just going to get a bunch of college kids to make iOS games.

"Planescape Tapment!

The #1 RPG in 8 countries! FREE this week only! In addition, all Plane Gem packs are 25% off!

Remember to rate 5 stars for more FREE Mort's Remix levels!"

@Mr_Skeleton said:

It might have it name but it won't be Black Isle.

But what if it IS?!!?!

Like others have said, without the people who made the games it's not Black Isle.

When nostalgia strikes, no one is safe.

I didn't realise Interplay still existed.

Looks like all they put out these days is downloadable versions of old games

Maybe Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are leaving Bioware to resurrect Black Isle. One can only dream. Baldur's Gate 3 in 2d...

@sissylion said:

Planescape Torment 2. First-person action RPG with a talking dog and an all-dubstep soundtrack.

"YO CUTTER, PUT THESE BERKS IN THE DEAD-BOOK."

WUB WUB WUB WUB WUB WUB WUB

@sissylion said:

Planescape Torment 2. First-person action RPG with a talking dog and an all-dubstep soundtrack.

you make fun but this would be amazing just by how dumb it is

If they're just going to resurrect the NAME of the studio for marketing reasons and have totally unrelated people, then Interplay can go to hell.

The next news story about Interplay I want to hear is either them putting out a new game or rereleasing some of their back catalog. Other than that, I don't care.

I think you mean "Resurrecting" "Black Isle Studios". Both with facetious quotes. Neither of these things is actually happening, without the talent. It's just an attempt of cashing in on gamers nostalgia.

It might have it name but it won't be Black Isle.

The real question is why did Interplay close them down in the first place? Also great news as far as I'm considered I love the RPG's they made.

I'm really hoping for a Planescape 2.

I'm actually playing Torment now, holds up well for a game that old.

@sissylion said:

Planescape Torment 2. First-person action RPG with a talking dog and an all-dubstep soundtrack.

yes

Guys, don't get excited. This is Interplay. This means nothing. No game will get made, and if it does, it will have nothing to do with anything relating to the original Black Isle studio.

Will say that same thing here when I saw this elsewhere: The name means nothing. This is a marketing ploy pure and simple. The people behind Black Isle are gone and off doing other things. This is a marketing department resurrecting a name to get some publicity. I guess it worked. Too bad Interplay won't do anything with it.

Uh huh... and Interplay's last game from any developer was...?

Seem like another shell game on Interplay's part. They have a name, but nothing to back it with, since pretty much everyone who made Black Isle great is working somewhere else. Gonna shrug at this until I hear who's working on what.

It's weird that they ressurected the studio and not have any of the old staff back on it. At least that's the impression I get from the tweet. I wonder if they're trying to trick old gamers back into thinking they'll make good old style rpg's.

This is a cruel joke. A studio of that pedigree is more than a name, that can be simply necroed when deemed convenient.

Dude yes

This is either an opportunity for a completely new cast of devs to resurrect the esteem Black Isle earned or its a hackneyed attempt at nostalgia and using the name to garner attention. Lets hope its the former.

Either way, the Fallout MMO business gives me no indication that Black Isle 2 (which would be a great name for the studio) will be anything worth paying attention to until they show for it. Also the fact that Interplay is backing them also screams of last ditch effort than confident return to form.

Who knows maybe we'll all be proven wrong and this is a true comeback but I highly doubt it.

Thanks for the scoop ! 

I find it kind of weird seeing how exited people are about this, it's been ages since Interplay has done anything noteworthy at all and I doubt Interplay can support them well enough to get actually good games from them.

Planescape Torment 2. First-person action RPG with a talking dog and an all-dubstep soundtrack.

I would love this. Far too much.

sweet

Still not sure how to feel about this.

Also, just played a ton of New Vegas yesterday, that game is sweet.

Woah!

Black Isle Studios has been effectively dead since 2003, but that may no longer be the case.

The worshipped RPG developer was responsible for Fallout, Fallout 2, Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Planescape: Torment, and Icewind Dale. That’s one hell of an RPG lineup.

Interplay is teasing the studio’s return on its website, though without any details on the how or why.

“Our goal has always been to make the world’s best RPGs,” reads the teaser. “Black Isle Studios is back.”

There’s an option to sign up for a newsletter, in addition to links pointing to Facebook and Twitter accounts. Neither of them actually feature any useful information.

Fallout: New Vegas senior designer Chris Avellone, who previously worked as a designer on Fallout 2 and other Black Isle Studios projects, claimed to have no details on the apparent studio resurrection.

“I know nothing about the Black Isle Studio news announcement,” he said on Twitter. “Doesn't involve me or Obsidian... or well, anyone that I know. ;)”

Interplay was last in the news for having the rights to develop a Fallout MMO stripped away from them, after attempting to get the project off the ground for years.