Some of the most iconic and landmark role-playing games are coming to consoles for the first time ever. Titles from some of the most influential developers in the genre, BioWare and Black Isle Studios will be playable on consoles at some point in 2019. No specific consoles or timeframes have been announced quite yet, but it’s a huge move for gamers who have been traditionally console-only. The news comes with the announcement of a partnership between Beamdog and Skybound Games.
The partnership will bring the following games to consoles:
- Baldur’s Gate
- Baldur’s Gate II
- Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
- Icewind Dale
- Planescape: Torunament
- Neverwinter Nights
The games will be released with “Enhanced Editions” and will be available both physically and digitally. All of the games use the Dungeons & Dragons gameplay style, meaning the gameplay is turn-based and often determined by (behind-the-scenes) dice rolls. It’s a definite win for both RPG fans and video game history buffs alike. While there are still plenty of details that are unknown, some of the titles will be playable at PAX East 2018, which is taking place from March 28th-31st. Hopefully, we’ll get more information at the convention.
It’ll also be interesting to see where BioWare, a studio which is releasing Anthem soon, got its start. Beamdog was actually started by former BioWare members, and is responsible for the PC releases of the Enhanced Editions of all these games. Sadly, Black Isle Studios is no longer around, but it is responsible for other legendary RPGs like Fallout 2.
This marks another huge move for Skybound, which also revived The Walking Dead: The Final Season after original developer Telltale shut down. All of the games will release sometime in 2019.
