Interplay Entertainment is resurrecting Black Isle Studios, the subsidiary developer responsible for some of the best PC RPG's ever made. A new teaser site promises additional details soon.
"Our goals has always been to make the world's best RPGs. Black Isle Studios is back," reads the site. You can enter your email address to be informed of any updates. That's the extent of the site's content for now.
The website appears to be legit. The WHOIS results for blackisle.com say that it was registered by "INTERPLAY ENTERTAINMENT CORP." This would've been a very cruel hoax to play on PC gamers.
Black Isle, founded back in 1996, is perhaps best known for creating Fallout and Fallout 2. They were also responsible for Planescape Torment and the Icewind Dale series, all of which are based on the Dungeons & Dragons license. The company served as publisher for BioWare's Baldur's Gate series as well.
Interplay closed Black Isle in 2003 due to financial difficulties. Former employees went on to found studios like Troika Games (Vampire: The Masquerade - Blood Lines, Arcanum) and Obsidian Entertainment (Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas). Perhaps Interplay will bring back some ex-employees into the fold, but nothing has been announced on that front.
"I know nothing about the Black Isle Studio news announcement, doesn't involve me or Obsidian... or well, anyone that I know," tweeted Obsidian chief creative officer Chris Avellone, the designer of Planescape Torment.
Black Isle Studios is responsible for some of my favorite games ever so I'm a bit excited by this news. It remains to be seen whether this resurrected version of the company has anything going for it other than the name, though.
