Black Isle Studios
 | |
| Company type | defunct |
|---|---|
| Industry | computer and video game industry |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Orange County, California, USA |
Key people | Feargus Urquhart: founder, division directer |
| Products | computer games, video games |
Black Isle Studios was a division of the computer and video game developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment, created specifically for the development of computer role-playing games. It was based in Orange County, California, USA.[1] The division was formed during 1996, adopting the name "Black Isle Studios" during 1998.[2] The idea for the division's name came from the Black Isle in Scotland - founder Feargus Urquhart's native country.[3] Black Isle Studios is most famous for working on the Fallout and Baldur's Gate series of computer role-playing games, though it only published the Baldur's Gate series.
On December 8, 2003, Interplay laid off the entire Black Isle Studios staff.[4] As of 2005, Interplay has neither explained the move nor clarified what the future holds for Black Isle Studios. Many former Black Isle Studios employees now work at Obsidian Entertainment, a video game development company.[5]
Products
- Fallout (1997)[6]
- Fallout 2 (1998)
- Planescape: Torment (1999)
- Icewind Dale (2000)
- Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001)
- Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter - Trials of the Luremaster (2001)
- Icewind Dale II (2002)
- Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (2004)
In addition to games developed in-house, Black Isle Studios has aided in the development of several computer role-playing games published by Interplay; the most notable being the Baldur's Gate series for Windows and Mac OS, and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. Because Black Isle Studios is the role-playing game developer which published the Baldur's Gate series, many people mistakenly believe that Black Isle Studios developed the Baldur's Gate series. This is false; the Baldur's Gate series was developed by BioWare, a company that is sometimes erroneously credited with developing the Icewind Dale series.
Project code names
The studio used to code-name its projects after U.S. presidents and vice-presidents. The system was reportedly created by Josh Sawyer (aka JE Sawyer), who joined the company in 1999.[citation needed]
A list of some BIS projects with their code names:
- Project King - Stonekeep II, cancelled in 2001
- Project Adams - Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter
- Project Washington - Black Isle's Torn; announced and cancelled in 2001
- Project Madison - Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster
- Project Monroe - Icewind Dale II
- Project Quincy - Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader; this was a ruse by Feargus Urquhart, as there never was a U.S. president with that last name and Lionheart was not developed by Black Isle Studios. Lionheart was also codenamed Fallout Fantasy.[2]
- Project Jackson - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II 2003
- Project Jefferson - unofficially known as Baldur's Gate 3: The Black Hound; project name mentioned as early as 2001; cancelled 2003
- Project Van Buren - Fallout 3; cancelled 2003 as PC staff was laid off
Notes
- ^ "Black Isle Studios at IGN". Retrieved July 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Lionheart Chronicles - "et in Arcadia ego..."". Retrieved July 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Black Isle Studios: We are not BioWare". Retrieved July 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "GameSpot: "Interplay shuts down Black Isle Studios" (8/12/03)". Retrieved May 1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "About Obsidian Entertainment". Retrieved July 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Black Isle Studios' official website, accessed through archive.org". Retrieved July 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)