Black Isle Studios

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Created in 1996 by Feargus Urquhart, the studio was named Black Isle after Urquhart's homeland. The studio, although credited for the creation of Fallout was, in fact, not responsible for the game. Rather a key portion of the original studio came from the team that made Fallout. When developing Fallout 2, several employees left Interplay to form Troika Games after they 'were unable to come to an agreement with Interplay as to how [their] next team should be structured.' The remaining team would go on to release such critically acclaimed games as Planescape: Torment, and Icewind Dale. The studio also released critically acclaimed Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn developed by BioWare. In the years leading to the closure of Black Isle, Interplay's financial difficulties would worsen, leading to the cancellation of anticipated games such as Black Isle's Torn and Stonekeep 2: Godmaker, releasing only Icewind Dale II, publishing Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader and developing Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II. On December 8, 2003, in the midst of serious financial difficulties, Interplay laid off the entire Black Isle Studios staff, which also resulted in the cancellation of Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance III and the original Fallout 3. In 2012, Interplay had been trying for several years to get the troubled Project V13 off the ground. Originally conceived as a massively multiplayer online game set in the world of Fallout, the project suffered a significant setback when Interplay lost all rights to use the Fallout brand. As part of their efforts to restart the project anew, Interplay revived Black Isle Studios with two of its original team members and began a crowdfunding campaign to fund a prototype in 2012. The campaign did not raise sufficient funds to develop a playable prototype, and communications from Interplay and Black Isle about the project had ceased completely by early 2014.

In Their Own Story

In the dim glow of a CRT monitor, the air thick with the scent of stale coffee and printed design documents, a developer stares at the sprawling map of Sigil. The city of a thousand facets shifts in his mind as he refines the dialogue tree for an immortal protagonist who has forgotten his own name. Outside the studio walls, the world rushes forward, but inside, time is suspended within the intricate logic of a save file, where every choice echoes through the multiverse.

Reader's Guide

Games Developed: Fallout (1997), 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). Games Published: Baldur's Gate (1998), Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (1999), Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000), Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001), Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (2001), Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (2003). Compilations: Black Isle Compilation (2002), Black Isle Compilation Part Two (2004). Cancelled projects: Stonekeep 2: Godmaker (2001), Torn (2001), Van Buren (2003), Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound (2003), Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance III (2004), Project V13 (2012).

Did You Know?

• The studio's name came from the Black Isle in Scotland, founder Feargus Urquhart's ancestral country.
• Black Isle Studios was not responsible for the creation of Fallout, though a key portion of its original team came from the Fallout development team.
• In 1999, IGN's RPG Vault awarded Black Isle Studios Developer of the Year.
• The studio was closed in late 2003 due to Interplay's financial troubles, and briefly revived in August 2012.