Historical Mystery: When exactly was Baldur's Gate released?

[Infinitron]

In this interview, Brian Fargo says:

Some people forget that Baldur's Gate was originally supposed to make Christmas 1998 – there was a lot of pressure to have that thing make Christmas. I had retailer penalties into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I sucked it up and we didn't ship until January. People talk about quality – it's easy to talk about, but when you've got a gun to your head it's much harder to make that call. I'm glad that no publisher wanted Wasteland 2 because this is the best way it could have been made.

Yet there are numerous sources on the Internet that claim the game was in fact released in time for Christmas 1998, including Wikipedia and MobyGames.

VGChartz says it was released in November 1998 in the US and in January 1999 in Europe. Could that be it? Is Brian Fargo just confused?

In short, post here if you bought Baldur's Gate in 1998.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

I'm sure it was early 1999.

 

[Azrael the cat]

1999 in Australia.

 

[octavius]

I remember it being released after MM6 (which was released in summer 1998, I think), and that it was hyped by the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg crowd (which at the time included Dr Ray, before he became a corporate automaton talking about "monetization") as the bestest game ever, long before it was released.
For some reason I remember very clearly playing MM6 for the first time, while my maiden voyage with BG is a blur...

 

[MicoSelva]

Gamespot claims it is 30 November 1998 , but their review is dated for 20 January 1999. IGN's review was published 18th January 1999.
There are no 1998 reviews to be found.

It was 1999 for sure in Poland, I distinctly remember getting the game after Christmas (and I bought in on release).

 

[deuxhero]

The review dates tell me this may be more than an old man misremembering a few details. As a proponent of media archival, this makes me both curious and and horrified. That such a high profile release can have an unknown release date puts a lot of questions about how accurate release date lists are.

 

[spayne]

There are plenty of Usenet threads from people who got it in December 1998. The earliest I saw was December 24th.

Go to https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.games.baldurs-gate and apply a filter to show topics last modified in December 1998.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.games.baldurs-gate/FR63SG0iKiA
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.games.baldurs-gate/wsQ-_0d9vE
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.games.baldurs-gate/VeuZOSPJzEA

Also, it is listed in Interplay's 1998 fourth quarter financial results.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Interplay+Reports+Fourth+Quarter+Results.-a053943654

Brian Fargo, Interplay's chairman and chief executive officer commented, "The fourth quarter loss, which was anticipated, was due to several factors. As previously noted, we were unable to ship two important titles, Messiah and EWJ 3D, during the quarter. In addition, Baldur's Gate, the #1 selling PC game in January according to PC Data, did not ship until the last days of 1998, which reduced shipments in the quarter to about half the projected volume. Finally, we experienced higher returns than usual in the fourth quarter."

 

[flabbyjack]

Wikipedia is wrong yet again. Meh.

 

[spayne]

http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/archive/19981220.shtml

Monday, December 21

Baldur's Gate Ships

While it has been known since Friday by many, Interplay just sent us the official press release announcing the imminent arrival of Baldur's Gate to stores. Here is the press release, minus the corporate and legal segments:

#1 MOST HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW GAME, BALDUR'S GATE, SHIPS!

Spoiler

IRVINE, California, December 21, 1998 - Black Isle Studios(tm), the role-playing game (RPG) division of Interplay Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: IPLY) announced today the release of Baldur's Gate(tm) the number one new game title in pre-sale activity at certain mall-based stores. Electronics Boutique, Babbages and Software Etc. as well as independent consumer surveys have all reported tremendous interest in the game. The title is in the duplication process, and will begin shipping to software retailers nationwide today on five CD-ROM's for Windows(r) 95/98-based computers. Baldur's Gate was developed by the Alberta, Canada-based software company, BioWare Corp., and will support up to six different players in its Internet-based multi-player mode and also provides for an excellent solo play experience.

"Every quarter, GameSpot researches the PC titles market, to identify which titles are most in demand among the millions of users who use the site each month," noted Jon Epstein, president and CEO of GameSpot Inc. "Baldur's Gate has consistently climbed up the ranks since we've been tracking the game. And now, in our most recent November 1998 survey, when asked to name which title they would purchase next, our users wrote down Baldur's Gate more than any other title published in 1998."

Black Isle Studios and Interplay attribute the anticipation of Baldur's Gate to the enormous gameplay area (five CD's and over 10,000 scrolling screens) and also the promise of a true Advanced Dungeons & Dragons(r) experience for both novice and seasoned role-playing gamers alike. Several mall-based stores reported a near frenzy for the release of the game. "Baldur's Gate is definitely one of the most highly anticipated and long-awaited games of 1998. We've had very high pre-sale activity on it, and it should be a great title to end the year with," commented Bob McKenzie, director of purchasing for Babbages Etc.

"We are extremely excited about the fact that we will have Baldur's Gate to sell in 1998. We think gamers are going to be very happy that Black Isle Studios and BioWare were able to complete the game and get it out on the shelves before the end of the year," added Jerry Madaio, vice president of merchandise in Electronics Boutique's PC division.

Set in the Sword Coast region of the popular Forgotten Realms(r) AD&D campaign setting, Baldur's Gate takes the player on a visually dazzling adventure. It brings to life the grand traditions of a true AD&D role-playing game experience for the personal computer through cutting-edge art and loyalty to the AD&D rule set. The story begins with looming economic strife and mysterious murders terrifying the local residents of the city of Baldur's Gate. This causes local leaders to point the finger at the neighboring nation of Amn. War seems imminent, and the player's character is thrust into the dangerous regional conflict to unravel the mystery with a party of adventurers.

Hopefully copies will be abundant enough so that no one gets disappointed for Christmas.

Tuesday, December 22

Baldur's Gate Infobits

Joby Bednar, Direct Sales Webmaster of Interplay, sent along a note which he entitled "The Semi-Official Word" in the Baldur's Gate Backroom:

You want to know what's going on? Hearing too many rumors, now you want the truth?

Right, here you go...

Spoiler

As we promised, Digital River will receive the first units of Baldur's Gate and will be shipping them out at 8am to our direct customers! Yes, they were the first to get the game.

The game is not in stores yet, so don't listen to those loons who are telling you they have it, or have seen it.

The online store has run out of Volo's Guides, and the free offer is over. (Now that that was said, the truth is that we have a couple hundred left and are adding them to every order from now on until we actually run out. It won't be on your order, but if we have any left over...you'll get it. A little thank you, and a merry x-mas to our loyal fans, from Interplay!

Worried you'll get the game late and you want to be the first to finish the game? Don't be. The game, if fully installed on your hard drive, is 2.5 gigs! 5 CD's...I heard it took QA 24 hours a day for 7 days straight (timewise) to finish the game, and they have all the solutions! If you get this game right now...there's a chance you still won't be done with it before we release the expansion!!! Enjoy the holidays...spend some time with the relatives...when you do get the game, you'll be at your computer until the next millenium! Take this oppertunity to say farewell to your loved ones...they will see you in about a year!

Enjoy! Have a great Holiday season!

p.s. I played it when it was in beta...it's f***ing incredible!

He also tagged on the following reply:

Kill the messenger eh?

Please realize that I post what I'm told to post, and we all think we are giving you the most accurate info as possible. We are human...we do make mistakes. But, we also try very hard to fix them, and we do listen to your concerns. We are trying very hard to fix many of the issues with DR (email comfs, etc.) however, time is needed to fully fix the problems. And if there is one thing we don't have...it's time.

Yeah, there may be some problems, but we do care enough to try and fix them if you tell us. Try going to another company and see if you get the person attention we try to give you.

Stick in there...we are working FOR YOU.

Reported over at Baldur's Gate Chronicles, Black Isle Studios Marketing Head Greg Peterson noted how Baldur's Gate was selling out before it even hit some stores shelves. Yikes!

Wednesday, December 23

The Word On Baldur's Gate Availability

Chuck Camps, Chief Operating Officer at Interplay, explained why the availability of Baldur's Gate has been on the low side, over at the Backroom:

Spoiler

As my staff and I appear to be the fountain of all evil on this board I thought I would post all the facts....

-Normal "expedited" turn around time from the delivery of a final master to staging finished goods ready for shipment to customers is 10 days. This process includes duplicating the disks at one site, moving the disks to the assembly site, assembly of the product, moving the assembled product to our warehouse and then staging the product for shipment to individual retailers. In the case of Baulder's Gate, Disc 1 went gold late Thursday 12/17 meaning assembly could not even begin till the weekend. A all out effort is being made by all parties involved to get these tasks done quicker so that some customers had the potential to have the product for the holidays. Due to the fact that the product is 5 CD's assembly is time consuming. For a variety of reasons we are running only about one 8 hour shift behind where we thought we would be building the product.

-We have run into a few roadblocks the largest is the availability of trucks in the southeast to transfer product from the assembly house to our warehouse to stage for shipping. This problem is continuing even as I type this and only 26,000 units have been delivered.

-There is no "plot" involved involving our direct customers. As I believe had been consistently stated, DR picked up the first units that were completed, shipped them to their warehouse and began processing. We are not in control of how quickly DR systems turn around the product. We are DR's highest priority customer and put lots of pressure on them so they are moving as fast as possible.

-EB and Babbages and a few other's are Will Call customers who send their own trucks to pick up product from our warehouse. We do not control the timing of those truck pick up's nor do we control how they disperse to their individual stores. Our sales department is in constant contact with them and are trying to get a substantial portion (over 50%) of their orders ready for pick up and based on how they decide to process some of this product may be in stores tomorrow. We do not control that decision.

-Whether Interplay has cash or not is totally irrelevant to the discussion. We are on fine terms with our vendors this is simply a logistics problem.

-A lot of people at Bioware, Interplay development and QA worked extremely hard to final the game, but the reality is that it did go final in late December the worst time of year for shipping to be predictable. Further, the people in Interplay operations as well as other departments have given up their vacation to expedite this process.

I hope this answers some questions. Happy Holidays.

To all those many anxious fans who are trying to pick up Baldur's Gate in time for Christmas, two words: good luck. Abundant, widespread availability is probably not realistic until late December/early January, so hold on.

Here is a chat log from December 23rd 1998 with Ray Muzyka where the release is discussed.

http://www.fileplanet.com/13566/10000/fileinfo/Baldur's-Gate-Chat-Log-(12/23/98)

 

[Infinitron]

Wikipedia is wrong yet again. Meh.

Nope.

Well, it's not wrong about the year, at least.

 

[MicoSelva]

spayne's posts have proved one thing:

Some people forget that Baldur's Gate was originally supposed to make Christmas 1998 – there was a lot of pressure to have that thing make Christmas. I had retailer penalties into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I sucked it up and we didn't ship until January.

BRIAN FARGO IS LYING TO US AGAIN!!!!!111!!ONEOne1oNe! Quick, withdraw your kickstarter money while you still can!

Wikipedia is wrong yet again. Meh.

Nope.

Well, it's not wrong about the year, at least.

Brother None already fixed the month and day too.

 

[mondblut]

I began playing a pirated copy at new year's night, and I am pretty damn sure it wasn't 1 jan 2000

 

[taxalot]

I began playing a pirated copy at new year's night, and I am pretty damn sure it wasn't 1 jan 2000

Man, you had exciting New Year Eve parties.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Bought it in December. Pretty sure it was released before xmas, just in time for the holidays.

 

[Sacred82]

p. sure it was available in spring/ early summer in Germany, so 1999

 

[PlanHex]

Isn't Edge a British magazine?
And you say it was released after New years eve in Europe?

 

[Brother None]

Brother None already fixed the month and day too.

Yes, good thread this. Late December for NA and January for EU it appears to be.

Also, to be fair, shipping for limited distribution a few days before Christmas was de facto missing Christmas release, as only a few retailers would have the game stocked. Old-fashioned shelves! If Interplay had really wanted to hit full Christmas release they would've had to ship much earlier.

 

[Monty]

Must have been a disappointing Christmas for retailers in 1998 then, their plans to split their shelves between Grimoire and Baldur's Gate were in ruins.