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Baldur's Gate Started As An MMO
Many gamers fondly remember discovering triple-A RPG developer BioWare with their PC classic Baldur's Gate. As revealed on a recent panel, that genre-defining game could have ended up quite different if BioWare's original intentions had come to fruition.
Speaking at GDC Europe, BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk revealed that they had originally pitched Baldur's Gate to multiple publishers as Battleground Infinity, an MMO about gods from different mythologies warring with each other. Zeschuk noted how there was nothing like the modern MMO at the time, remarking "Even back then, we were too ambitious."
When they showed an early demo of the game to Interplay, the publisher suggested changing the game to a more traditional RPG. Though that genre was considered pretty much dead in America at the time, BioWare decided to push through, urged on by the success of Blizzard's Diablo in 1997.
Zeschuk also explained that Interplay had asked the developer to split Baldur's Gate II into two games. He lamented that they didn't just take the Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal and name it Baldur's Gate III. He also hinted that there will be a new announcement on the next project from Mythic (now a division of BioWare) soon.
You can read a full write-up of the panel at 1UP.
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