Ship Date Delay

September 14

Dear Friends of Baldur’s Gate,

When we first announced Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, you set fire to our servers and we were overwhelmed by the huge wave of support from the fans of the original game.

Once the fires had subsided, thousands of you posted suggestions and requests on our forums. Dozens of volunteers from all over the world helped us improve game play, squash bugs, and generally fine-tune the game. Even more came to help work on translations from English to more than 16 other languages.

Executing on our plan to make the best Baldur’s Gate possible and responding to that overwhelming feedback, we’ve added new characters, areas, and story, creating many new hours of game play. Yet the suggestions, fixes, and translations continue, and more volunteers keep joining.

After recently reviewing the game and then consulting with our partners, we've decided to ensure that Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is the best possible product on launch. Thus, we have pushed back the release date of the game. Our plan is to release in November, 2012.

To all who have pre-ordered, we ask for your patience as we move toward our final release date -- and we will be working on something a little extra for you. To all who have volunteered, we thank you for your dedication and support.

-Trent
Trent Oster
President, Overhaul Games

Brude · September 14

Ouch.

Tetraploid · September 14

Very sad not to be getting the game next week, but I understand wanting it to be a good as possible. Good luck doing so!

Jean_Luc · September 14

Hah, can't say I'm surprised. C'est la vie. Looking forward to the reiterated UI. ;)

It's actually a good thing, I noticed you were struggling to get everything done yet I thought the Contract Lords would force you to meet the deadline anyway.

Kholdstare · September 14

I am now very sad. :(

Vonbek777 · September 14

Wow, seriously you waited this long to announce something you had to be aware of before now. A little more communication would better build the bridges of trust with the community.

cloakanddagger · September 14

You're all boffleheaded

Bercon · September 14

Painful, but a good choice. You can't change the first impressions afterwards.

HeroicSpur · September 14

100% Agree, this is the right decision. It's far better to postpone release and make sure BG:EE lives up to its legacy than risk a repeat of some of the disasters we've seen recently (stronghold 3, sword of the stars 2 etc). We should applaud Trent and the rest of the Beamdog staff for having the courage to postpone release (and learn from the mistakes of others) in the interests of the game and us, rather than releasing a shoddy product which doesn't do justice to BG.

I'm sure there will be people who will be/are disappointed, but quality takes time.

Lock · September 14

Important thing is that it's great when it's released.

cloakanddagger · September 14

Our quest is vain!

bobsageek · September 14

Not a problem, ship when it's ready.

shadowstriker85 · September 14

Would rather get the game when its ready than right away. Plus I'm getting it for Android, so I wasn't expecting it this month anyway.

Tanthalas · September 14

@Vonbek777

Its not something as simple as that.

I'm sure they honestly were trying their best to make the 18th September deadline. When it simply became obvious that they wouldn't make it they still needed to talk to all parties involved before they could publicly announce it.

Its bad that the game had to be delayed, but it was for the best.

sepotter · September 14

Ouch. Well, keep us updated.

Jaxsbudgie · September 14

roflcopters - expected as much - lmaonaise - more time to play Borderlands now - lolcanoe

Shin · September 14

When was this decision made, today?
Still, I agree it's better to delay than release something that isn't ready.

Brude · September 14

Vonbek777 said:
Wow, seriously you waited this long to announce something you had to be aware of before now. A little more communication would better build the bridges of trust with the community.

I agree that announcing this right before the original ship date is weak, but then again the delay isn't surprising. Simultaneously launching a game on three platforms was enormously ambitious for what is, presumably, a small studio.

All that said, having been a developer and experienced crunch times, I feel sorry for their devs. They must be damn near fried by now.

cloakanddagger · September 14

I have no patience for this, things stir to the south as we speak!

Bhryaen · September 14

Vonbek777 said:
Wow, seriously you waited this long to announce something you had to be aware of before now. A little more communication would better build the bridges of trust with the community.

Note that anything the devs do publicly involves a negotiation with the Oversight Committee (i.e., the several others in the contractual agreement). That is why there have been so many delays, even on such simple matters as this...

As General Dreedle would say in "Catch-22:" "All part of the contract!"

Tanthalas · September 14

@Shin

They had to talk about it with their other partners in the project, so I'm sure it was decided a while ago, not today.

Malban · September 14

Though I've been eagerly awaiting the release I fully support a delay to ensure the game ships as it should; I appreciate the dedication to quality. That said, could we get a little something (screens, manual, new NPC stats) to tide us over? ;)

Aosaw · September 14

I agree as well. It's unfortunate that the announcement couldn't be made sooner, but it's also understandable considering that any change in the plans has to go through an approval process (including a change in the release date).

I'm glad that the team has decided to go this route; I would have been very unhappy if the release of such a great game were sullied by a poorly executed release version. We've been saying pretty much since the beginning that we're willing to wait as long as it takes to make sure the game is done right. It's nice to hear that the developers were listening.

sirthaddaeus · September 14

Sucks not getting it next week. Sucks it being pushed back that far. Sucks they waited to last minute to announce a push back especially of that length.

But I am patient and look forward to seeing you guys putting out the best product.

ramagons · September 14

oh well. better than shipping a product you aren't 100% confident with.

Cuv · September 14

I am behind them 100% on this!!!

Jaxsbudgie · September 14

Actually, think of all the games that could have benefited from this treatment. At least now we won't be able to complain that they should have spent more time on it :)

mch202 · September 14

I know its the right decision and a tough call, A lot of players already said that they prefer to wait ever more for a more polished product.

Unfortunately, for me it means that I wont play Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition until next August :-p

I just wish that there will be more updates about BG:EE, all of this silence and lake of updates is killing me!

Knettgummi · September 14

Thank goodness! With that distraction out of the way, there might actually be hope for me turning in my master's thesis on time. :)

Edit: now I just need someone to sabotage those Torchlight 2-guys...

EnialusMeliamne · September 14

I'm good with this. Not only does it ensure a better finished product, itOffers more time for modders to make updated and compatible imports too, I'd imagine. I was pretty stoked for next week, BUT I'll use the time to finish my pally run through on BGII (heavily modded of course). Either way, I'm patient enough to wait without griping.

Vonbek777 · September 14

Tanthalas said:
@Vonbek777

Its not something as simple as that.

I'm sure they honestly were trying their best to make the 18th September deadline. When it simply became obvious that they wouldn't make it they still needed to talk to all parties involved before they could publicly announce it.

Its bad that the game had to be delayed, but it was for the best.

I'm not questioning the work ethic, just the communication. I will gladly wait the extra months for a better game and distribution process, but communication, especially with the pre-order crowd is essential IMHO. This isn't a two week delay due to boxes not being ready...

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