An official Baldur’s Gate 2 remake is reportedly in the works at Wizards of the Coast.
PC Gamer reported that it is likely that BioWare’s Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 will both get remakes ahead of the release of Baldur’s Gate 4. The publication said former BioWare developer and Baldur’s Gate 2 co-lead designer Kevin Martens is working on the remake. There’s the suggestion both remakes will launch together.
IGN has asked Wizards of the Coast and parent company Hasbro for comment.
The big question here, assuming the report is true, revolves around the scope of the remakes. It seems unlikely we’ll be getting Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 remade in the Baldur’s Gate 3 style, given how long it would take to convert the thousands of hours of content both games offer combined into something in-keeping with Larian’s role-playing masterpiece.
Perhaps Hasbro views remakes as a stop-gap between the phenomenally successful Baldur’s Gate 3 and the inevitable sequel, which has astronomical fan expectation to navigate. With Larian leaving Baldur’s Gate and indeed Dungeons & Dragons behind to make the next Divinity game, there are big shoes to fill — perhaps the biggest in video games.
Baldur’s Gate was BioWare’s second game, releasing on PC in 1998 and published by Interplay. It did well enough to spawn a sequel, 2000’s Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, which like its predecessor took place in the Forgotten Realms. Both original games use an isometric perspective and pausable real-time gameplay, with the player controlling up to six characters. Could the remakes follow Baldur’s Gate 3’s lead and go for fully turn-based combat? Or maybe a hybrid system is in order.
There’s plenty going on in the world of Baldur’s Gate, despite the long wait for a sequel. There’s a Baldur’s Gate 3 HBO TV show in the works, one that will continue the story from the game — much to the surprise of fans. There’s even a prequel novel depicting Astarion’s time in servitude to the Vampire Lord Cazador Szarr, an official Baldur’s Gate 3 cookbook, and a coloring book.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
