Black Isle apparently rises from the dead, everyone is confused

In today's installment of The Wacky World of Gaming, it appears that the once-beloved Black Isle Studios is back. We haven't heard from the studio since 2003, when parent company Interplay shut it down, but now it seems that Interplay has decided to revive it. Details are still very scarce, with the newly launched website only announcing that the studio has returned and inviting visitors to sign up for a mailing list.

Likewise, the new Facebook and Twitter pages for Black Isle are lacking any kind of substantial information. It seems that those in the industry are just as confused as everyone else, with Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo saying in a tweet that he doesn't have enough information on this reemergence to make a comment yet. Chris Avellone, who served as one of Black Isle's main men before joining Obsidian, said via Twitter that he doesn't know anything about the Black Isle announcement, and that no one at Obsidian is involved with the apparent re-opening of the studio. A lot of the people who worked at Black Isle are now with Obsidian, so it makes sense that some would suspect Obsidian had a hand in this.

But that doesn't seem to be the case. Truth be told, almost nothing has been revealed about the new Black Isle – we're just being told to wait for more news. If Black Isle truly is back, then whoever ends up working there will have some big shoes to fill. Black Isle was responsible for some classic computer RPGs, including the first two Fallout titles, the Icewind Dale series, and Planescape: Torment. All of those games are still loved today, so whatever this new Black Isle will be doing, players will be expecting a lot.

So, how's that for a strange gaming story? It's been a long time since we last heard from Black Isle, and this announcement has apparently blindsided everyone in the industry. It's definitely exciting to see that Black Isle has returned, but now the question is: can this new studio deliver the same great RPG experiences that Black Isle is remembered for? Keep it tuned to SlashGear, because this could turn out to be big.