Support NeoGAF

[IbizaPocholo]

Knights of the Old Republic remake studio Aspyr has acquired Beamdog | VGC

The MythForce and Baldur’s Gate Enhanced developer joins the Saber Interactive subsidiary…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Founded in 2009 by former BioWare leads Trent Oster and Cameron Tofer, Beamdog is the Canadian studio behind enhanced editions of classic Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment.

“This acquisition will open up a ton of exciting opportunities for us,” said Beamdog CEO Trent Oster. “Beamdog can now focus our talent, efforts and imagination on building the great games we want to play while properly looking after established fan-favorite RPGs. Beamdog’s first original IP is a fun-filled start to our studio’s next chapter.”

Texas-based Aspyr is currently working on a Knights of the Old Republic remake for PS5 and PC. Rather than a simple remaster, it has said the game will be “rebuilt from the ground up” with modern visuals and technology.

Aspyr is also behind the recent re-releases of Star Wars: Jedi Knight II, Republic Commando and Episode 1 Racer. It’s even ported KoTOR to iOS in the past, along with another BioWare title, Jade Empire.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Kupfer]

When will the acquisition manager be released?
You start as a small fish, look for investors, buy small indie studios, force them to destroy their brands, give away their rights and copy the latest trends. After a hype and enough microtransactions, you can then pay yourself a big bonus, fire a few employees or sexually harass them - or both.
With the profits and savings, you buy the next promising studio and grow. Over time, overpaid managers, quota LGBTQ community managers, business economists who align the operation only by numbers and then it is no longer so important to make good games.
From now on, the acquisition manager is only interested in swallowing big brands and making money with the name. The goal of the game is to have swallowed and destroyed the entire industry in the end game. Gaming as a hobby is dead because there are no more good games. As the winner of the game, you rub your fat belly and laugh your head off.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

No way it's a coincidence that Aspyr is working on KOTOR remake and Beamdog is known for making remasters of old Bioware games, right ?

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Not sure how I feel about this, Jedi Knight II remaster was a bit shit on Switch and literally felt like a copy paste of the PC version with no thought for console controls, it was painful to play with no aim assist.

Hopefully that’s just a one off and they’ve done some other good bits. I really liked the Enhanced Editions of BG1 and 2.

 

[N0S]

 

[nominedomine]

I didn't like any of the contend they made for BG1 and BG2 enhanced editions, the whole thing was in really bad taste for me, that's not how the way to go about rerelease a game, shoving a bunch of unwanted content into it that doesn't fit.

 

[Skifi28]

Who aquired who again?

 

[Faust]

I enjoyed the remasters Beamdog worked on, but didn’t they also make the god awful expansion siege of dragon spear? Or was that someone else?

 

[The_hunter]

It was rumoured they were also hiring bioware devs.

 

[Wrath of the Toomics]

I enjoyed the remasters Beamdog worked on, but didn’t they also make the god awful expansion siege of dragon spear? Or was that someone else?

No, that shitshow was full-on Beamdog.

The worst part is that it was the first time to prove what they could do on their "own," and it was not a good showing. Very disappointing.

I'd also say that whoever's idea it was to buy Beamdog is not a very bright move, it reflects poorly on both companies.

 

[Hendrick's]

 

[Faust]

No, that shitshow was full-on Beamdog.

The worst part is that it was the first time to prove what they could do on their "own," and it was not a good showing. Very disappointing.

I'd also say that whoever's idea it was to buy Beamdog is not a very bright move, it reflects poorly on both companies.

It was such a disappointing showing too. Rife with some of the most insulting slacktivist characterization. A far cry from what baldurs gate was.

 

[Ziglax]

While the Enhanced Baldur's Gate versions are probably the best ones to play in 2022, it took them multiple years after release to get there and the result was still underwhelming and lazy, also every Beamdog original content was mediocre, if not a complete embarrasment.
A couple of motivated modders could probably have done much better than Beamdog in much less time if they had the same access to the original game assets.
Baldur's Gate deserved better.
Their Planescape and Icewind Dale versions were OK though, no new added content and a slightly better running engine. Still lazy though.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

While the Enhanced Baldur's Gate versions are probably the best ones to play in 2022, it took them multiple years after release to get there and the result was still underwhelming and lazy, also every Beamdog original content was mediocre, if not a complete embarrasment.
A couple of motivated modders could probably have done much better than Beamdog in much less time if they had the same access to the original game assets.
Baldur's Gate deserved better.
Their Planescape and Icewind Dale versions were OK though, no new added content and a slightly better running engine. Still lazy though.

It seems as you know more about Beamdog than the rest of us. Do you think they could contribute positively to KOTOR or other Bioware remakes at Aspyr?

 

[Dr. Claus]

It seems as you know more about Beamdog than the rest of us. Do you think they could contribute positively to KOTOR or other Bioware remakes at Aspyr?

I mean sure they could. More hands on deck. As long as they aren't involved in writing and have more knowledgeable people telling them what to do, I am sure they would do fine.

The problem is that I don't think Aspyr is all that intelligent. FFS, they hired Sam Maggs initially. Even if they did ultimately get rid of her dumb ass, it leads to questioning how well they are managing this project to hire someone like that to begin with.

 

[RoadHazard]

Who?

And also, who?

 

[Fugitive Sex]

It's been a decade and they're still fixing up their "enhanced" editions. Just awful.

 

[Wrath of the Toomics]

It's been a decade and they're still fixing up their "enhanced" editions. Just awful.

Yeah, it doesnt seem like they've done much of their own, they mostly keep chasing BioWare old releases.

Trent Oster is ex-BioWare I guess, but he's one of the ones who looks like he's not doing so great outside of BW (Beamdog needs to parasite-off-of BioWare releases for product, which doesnt feel sustainable).