For a while there, it looked as though Baldur’s Gate had finally emerged from the dank dungeons of obscurity, prepared to crush modern glitz-and-glamour RPGs under a mountain of depth and 20-sided dice. But then things happened. Law things. Now Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is stuck in neutral – with Beamdog unable to continue fixing some rather worrisome launch issues – and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition has been put on indefinite hold. Yikes. But are things really as bad as they sound? And where does this leave Baldur’s Gate III, which Beamdog described as a “long-term goal” no so long ago? I got in touch with Beamdog head Trent Oster to find out.

“The prognosis [for resuming work on Baldur’s Gate] is mixed,” he admitted to RPS. “Best case, we can sort this out soon. Worst case, this could be in legal hell for a while. I like making games, but this contractual dispute bullshit keeps me up at night.”

As a result, the team hasn’t given up on Baldur’s Gate III, but the road to the pie-in-the-sky sequel just got a whole, whole lot rockier.

“Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition is on indefinite hold, as is the current patch,” said Oster. “Baldur’s Gate III, we are still interested in the concept, but currently I’d say were very demoralized.”

That sentiment doesn’t bode particularly well, but Oster and co are trying their hardest to turn things around. For now, Beamdog can’t name which “publishing partner” is hounding it, but it’s fairly safe to assume that they hold some serious sway. You don’t just take down your main moneymaker and slam the breaks on your next over a little squabble, after all.

So it’s a tricky situation. Here’s hoping for a resolution – and a Baldur’s Gate III befitting of the series’ standards – sooner rather than later.