Whether the clues point to Baldur’s Gate 3 or a repackaging of the originals is still anyone’s guess.
UPDATE: A report on GameBanshee.com reveals that the upcoming Baldur’s Gate announcement will come from Beamdog, a studio founded by BioWare veteran Trent Oster. Previously, Beamdog has worked with companies such as Interplay to develop HD mobile ports. Whether or not that’s the secret Baldur’s Gate project is still unknown. Beamdog did confirm, however, that it is not related to the new Steam release of Baldur’s Gate 2, saying:
“We’re not related to the Steam complete edition, I can tell you that much. Other than that, we’re hoping to announce something soon.”
Original Story:
Something is stirring in the lands of Faerûn, but only scant, cryptic messages left anonymously behind the curtain of Baldur’s Gate’s ancient website seem to know what. Inspecting the page source of BaldursGate.com reveals a series of messages that have been left commented out by the site’s Webmaster, a method generally reserved for a designers’ internal notes. Currently, those curious would find the following:
<!– February 28, 2012 –>
<!– Shadowy Figure- Raise Dead : Infinity Engine –>
<!– For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory. –>
<!– And then… it returned. Better than it was before. –>
Following those lines in the code is the, well, actual code for what normal people see when they visit the website. After that, one final, somewhat less optimistic message sits nestled at the bottom:
<!– Love is a lie. Only hate endures. –>
At first, the idea of Baldur’s Gate somehow “returning better than it was before” may lead some to the idea of a modern-day third installment-and maybe that’s what’s coming-but there’s more to the puzzle than just the source code.
Steam forum user xruiner89 searched the service’s registry, and claims to have found a reference to Baldur’s Gate there as well (app number 99140 for anyone who’d like to double-check his work).
Could this mean a re-release of Baldur’s Gate on Steam? Perhaps an HD re-release? Perhaps an HD re-release followed by a new sequel? It’s difficult, if not impossible to say.
Honestly, I’ve been around the internet for awhile now, and yet how or why people do things like check the HTML source code for a website promoting a game from 1998 is still beyond me. Still, I can’t say that I’m sad someone took the time. Almost any Baldur’s Gate news is good news, at least in my book.
Published: Feb 29, 2012 03:28 pm