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Posted By Shaun K. about 9 months ago
Yeah… About that….
It is a name synonymous with some of the most memorable Western RPGs ever made. Titles such as Fallout (1997), Fallout 2 (1998), Planescape: Torment (1999), and Icewind Dale (2000) all were created by this studio and even in death the company lived on via Obsidian Studios, a studio founded by much of its original staff. It is, of course, Black Isles Studios and now it lives again….
KindofMaybeNotreally. Let me explain.
Earlier this morning a website with the above image popped up online. In addition to that text, the site also has the classic Black Isle logo, a mailing list sign up, and links to both a Twitter and Facebook account. Should you decide to sign up for the mailing list, you will get a response that states the seemingly resurrected company is “a division of Interplay,” just like the original Black Isle Studios, in other words. However, do not go celebrating just yet Planescape fans, because it is looking more and more like this is a return in name only. That is because many of the individuals that made Black Isle what it was clearly have nothing to do with this supposed return. According to Joystiq, it is Interplay CEO and entrepreneur Herve Caen who we can thank for this would-be return of Black Isle (Interplay having registered the site, per a WHOIS search) and it seems increasingly clear that no one who had anything to actually do with the original Black Isle Studios is actually involved now.
For example, InXile’s Brian Fargo wrote the following on his Twitter account: “I just read that Interplay is bringing back Black Isle. Hmmm… Not enough info for me to comment.” Meanwhile, Obsidian creative lead Chris Avellone wrote on his Twitter account that “I know nothing about the Black Isle Studio news announcement, doesn’t involve me or Obsidian… or well, anyone that I know. 
” All of which makes it seem clear that Caen is simply trying to resurrect the studio without apparently actually having access to a rather key resource: the people that used to be a part of Black Isle. And while great things could theoretically still come from this new Black Isle Studios, considering the continuing uncertain financial state of Interplay, I would not go holding my breath. Time will tell and Blistered Thumbs will be there to report to you all the information you need to know. In the meantime, be sure to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Source(s): Joystiq. @BrianFargo. @ChrisAvellone
YES!!! Black Isle is BACK!!!
Just like Commodore! And Atari!
While it would be nice to see Black Isle come back and resurrect RPGs from the washed out mess they’ve become under Biowares tenure as RPG king they are lacking the key resource that has already been stated that being the talent. Seeing who they actually get to run the shop will be interesting though along with what they plan to do with it.
It ain’t gonna be Black Isle for me unless the people at Obsidian (and those who use to be part of Troika because both companies were formed after Black Isle) were somehow brought on to the resurrected Black Isle. Very doubtful that would ever happen though.
Otherwise, I too see this as a ploy to get the old fans to return.
Yeah… I’ll bet that Black Isle Studios was resurrected just to lure old fans into a false sense of security, and then hit them at point blank with more shitty DRM ridden games.