Black Isle Studios

Background: Black Isle Studios was an RPG division of Interplay, formed in 1996 in Irvine, California. They adopted their name in 1998, naming it after the titular Black Isle in founder Feargus Urquhart's ancestral country, Ireland. They are best-known for their many acclaimed titles, including Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale. Sadly, despite the success of their titles, they weren't able to stay active due to their parent company's then-increasing financial troubles; as a result, all of Black Isle's staff were laid off on December 8, 2003, effectively putting an end to the company. Much of the company's remaining staff members later went on to form Obsidian Entertainment, while key staff who worked on the first two Fallout games left to form Troika Games.


(1998-2004)

Nickname: "The Black Isle"

Logo: Under the stormy skies, there's an ocean with the black pyramid-shaped rock at the faraway. We

start zooming to the rock, while the lightnings cross the sky. When we zoom close, many lightnings come together and blast the black isle, making it into the outline with the black background. We see the isle sketch above with the lightnings, and the words "BLACK ISLE" (in a rough font) below, on separate lines, divided by a strip. Under "ISLE", the word "studios" occupies the white box. A byline is seen below: "A DIVISION OF INTERPLAY".

FX/SFX: The lightnings, the sea animation.

Music/Sounds: Harsh thunder and the electric-styled sound of many lightnings.

Availability: Common, as the games produced by BIS are well-known. It appears on Icewind Dale, Fallout, Baldur's Gate series, and on Lionheart.

Editor's Note: None.