Black Isle Studios

Black Isle Studios was a division of the PC and video game developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment, created specifically for the development of PC role-playing games. It was based in Orange County, California. The division was formed during 1996, adopting the name "Black Isle Studios" during 1998. The idea for the division's name came from the Black Isle in Scotland - founder Feargus Urquhart's native country. Black Isle Studios was most famous for working on the Fallout, Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate series of PC role-playing games, though it only published the Baldur's Gate series.

Closure
In 1998, several key members responsible for the division's first title, Fallout, left Interplay to form Troika Games after they "were unable to come to an agreement with Interplay as to how [their] next team should be structured". On December 8, 2003, in the midst of serious financial difficulties, Interplay laid off the entire Black Isle Studios staff. By then, most members had moved on to found Obsidian Entertainment.

Products

 * Fallout (1997)
 * Fallout 2 (1998)
 * Planescape: Torment (1999)
 * Icewind Dale (2000)
 * Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001)
 * Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter - Trials of the Luremaster (2001)
 * Icewind Dale II (2002)
 * Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (2004)

Among the products whose development Black Isle assisted are:
 * Baldur's Gate (1998)
 * Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (1999)
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
 * Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001)
 * Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (2003)

Two compilations bearing their name were also released:
 * Black Isle Compilation (2002)
 * Black Isle Compilation Part Two (2004)