Cancelled Baldur’s Gate Expansion Inspired Siege of Dragonspear

I don’t recall ever hearing about BioWare cancelling development of a second expansion pack for Baldur’s Gate, but if the latest issue of Beamdog’s digital magazine The Familiar is to be believed, that appears to have been the case. The issue includes a “The Making of Siege of Dragonspear” article featuring commentary from producer and lead writer Phillip Daigle, in which he reveals that at least some of the content in their add-on (which releases tomorrow, by the way) was inspired by that ill-fated expansion from long ago.  A couple of compelling paragraphs:

Despite Beamdog’s enthusiasm for new Baldur’s Gate content, the team didn’t immediately start work on the project. “We began discussing Dragonspear in late 2011, although at the time we were still calling it ‘BG 1.5’,” says Daigle. “Our initial idea was for an expansion that bridged the gap between the Enhanced Editions of Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II – it would be a fairly simple two three-hour adventure that primarily used existing artwork. As we worked on the additional content for those two games, we kept fiddling with the BG 1.5 concept, and we had John Gallagher [lead artist on the original Baldur’s Gate] do some early concept art for us.”

Daigle also took the opportunity to bring some previously unused Baldur’s Gate material back to life: “The original Baldur’s Gate had a canceled second expansion pack after Tales of the Sword Coast. This was supposed to involve a sinister individual who is trapped in stone, but can reach into the world to influence events. The sages of Candlekeep were to send the party on a quest to retrieve the stone. We took some of these concepts and modified them for use in Siege of Dragonspear.”