There are five enhanced versions of classic Dungeons & Dragons video games that are coming to consoles in 2019, as Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, and Planescape Torment will soon be arriving on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The Dungeons & Dragons license was a popular choice for PC RPGs throughout the late ’90s and early ’00s, but they started to die out over time, as developers would try and create their own fantasy series without needing to pay to use the Dungeons & Dragons name. A company named Beamdog has been publishing remastered versions of the classic Dungeons & Dragons RPGs, which were released as enhanced editions that were optimized for modern PCs.
In 2019, Skybound Games announced that they would be porting five of Beamdog’s remastered Dungeons & Dragons games to consoles. The release date and price point for the games have now been revealed on the Skybound website. The Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Pack (containing the first two games) and the Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition & Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition pack will be released on September 24, 2019, in the USA and September 27 everywhere else. Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will be released on December 3, 2019, in the USA and December 6 everywhere else. The games will cost $49.99 and will receive both physical and digital editions.
The games also include all of their DLC, which means that Baldur’s Gate has the Tales of the Sword Coast and Siege of Dragonspear expansions. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn has Throne of Bhaal, which many consider to be the unofficial third entry in the series, due to the amount of content it contains. Icewind Dale has Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster. Neverwinter Nights has Shadows of Undrentide, Hordes of the Underdark, Kingmaker, and all of the premium modules. Planescape Torment never received any DLC, so the enhanced version is just an improved port of the base game. The enhanced versions of the Baldur’s Gate games also contain new content in the form of characters, locations, and quests that were created by Overhaul Games & Beamdog.
The recent push for promoting the old Dungeons & Dragons games may have something to do with the rumors concerning the long-awaited release of Baldur’s Gate III, which might currently be in development by Larian Studios. The fact that a major upcoming Dungeons & Dragons adventure is also set partly set in the city of Baldur’s Gate offers credence to these rumors, as there seems to be a desire to revive interest in the series. There is also an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie in development and live streams of groups playing the game have become popular online, so it makes sense to introduce some of the best Dungeons & Dragons titles to a potential new audience.
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Source: Skybound Games
