Interplay shuts down Black Isle Studios

After months of bad omens, the end has finally come for the veteran RPG developer.

It looks like role-playing gamers will have a boulder of coal stuffed in their holiday stockings this year, as GameSpot has received reliable reports that Interplay has shut down Black Isle Studios.

While nothing has been confirmed by official sources as of press time, Damien "Puuk" Foletto, a member of BIS' art department, broke the news on the Interplay forums late this afternoon. "Today was my last day at the (former) BIS, as it was for my whole team," he said. To date, Foletto's posts have been one of the most reliable sources of news on the development of Fallout 3 (aka Van Buren) including the departure of his former co-worker J.E. Sawyer.

Black Isle's closure is a sad end for the once-great developer. BIS had a hand in some of the most acclaimed PC RPGs of the late 1990s, including the Fallout and Baldur's Gate series. Recently, though, the studio fell on hard times. Its forthcoming Dungeons & Dragons title, code-named "Jefferson," was canned earlier this year, reportedly a casualty of a legal tangle with D&D rights-holders Wizards of the Coast. A host of top-quality talent has fled the studio, including legendary producer Feargus Urqhart.

However, it looks like the financial woes of BIS' parent Interplay finally did the developer in. Interplay has lost over $20 million so far this year. Its two main holiday releases, the console RPGs Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (which was developed by BIS), were pushed back to next January as a result of another legal dispute, this time with distributor VU Games. Interplay's refocusing on console games may have also been a factor in the decision to shutter its more PC-centric subsidiary.

Regardless of the reasons, the closure of BIS will hit many gamers hard. Foletto's final post seemed particularly depressing. "I don't know where I'll end up," he said, "but [people should] know that we were all avid gamers and wanted to make the PC games that not only we wanted to play, but also the fans."

(Gamespot.com)

Dude this sucks.

There goes Fallout 3. :/

*Sniff*
*Think of a world without fallout 3*
Im going out to shoot someone.

I've known about this for a few days and it saddens me beyond sadness. Interplay didn't shut down BIS... they just "let go" almost all of the members. Let's just hope Van Buren can get picked up by someone else.

It's a sad day for the world of gamers.

Apparently not, Black Isle does still live. The rumours of closing were started by a group of disgruntled ex employees. In truth, though, more than half of the studio has been laid off and Fallout 3 is shelved.

A bunch of the employees have moved to Troika and Obsidian.

Only two members of BIS remain.

So there's still hope? Thats great to hear, you know those rumors can get QUITE OUT OF HAND sometimes, and it can ruin a company.

Interplay has denied this rumor on numerous occasions. The individuals cited for "confirming" the rumors were in fact ex-employees that had been individually released prior to the circulation of these rumors. Black Isle is still up and running, and anybody that says otherwise is a damned moron.

As to the fate of Fallout 3, I know nothing. Last I heard, Brotherhood of Steel was still on track, though.

Yay!