trueshot: Edit: Sorry..don't mean to be too harsh..I just strongly disagree here.
You mention IP. If there wasn't money to be made for both parties, Beamdog would not be in business and there would be no re-releases of classic titles ever. To use the verbiage like "parasite" is to engage in sophistry. The IP would only be surrendered if there was a good reason to do so. It also turns out that the original makers of these games care about the genre and their creative contributions, and probably feel better knowing that their games are now in good hands (meaning that these old classic titles have a chance to continue to grow and be known). You also mostly ignore the rapid commercialization of games, and the rise of small and less known studios that fill niches. Categorically, Beamdog cannot compete with the likes of Activision and Bethesda. Small fish and all.
You then imply that the games being re-released are the same. I'll be sure to parse all of the patch notes across every title to demonstrate that they have done a not-so-insignificant amount of work enhancing and perfecting these classics.
Finally, you mention running on someone else's brand. The market for Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights is so utterly tiny that it is but a blip on the radar of Activision, Ubisoft, EA. Let's be 100% clear that the vast majority of gamers EVERYWHERE have absolutely no idea what Black Isle Studios is or was. Beamdog does not run massive advertising campaigns on the internet and TV to sell their games. They just let the demographic grow organically- and if you are truly the fan you imply yourself to be, will agree this is a good thing. To be clear, there is a business in maintaining older games that still have a demographic. But his market is so utterly niche that to see any (even somewhat) competent developer attempt to widen the audience is laudable.
Ok,I'll try again since the thread ate my post.
I never implied that they didn't do any work. I said they were parasitic (they are) because they don't create anything of their own, but rather make their living updating other games. How good those "enhancements" are is a matter of opinion, I think BGEE was pretty bad, especially since they messed with the game by trying to add inferior content.
I didn't imply the games were the same, but the changes are minimal on the surface. Like I said, they do a lot of work to make he games more viable on modern systems. The problem is when they take the originals away and charge an extortion to get the games. I compared them intentionally to CDPR and GOG because that is who they were, and who Beamdog is to a lesser extent now.
As for the brand argument, you offer false equivalency. Just because the brand isn't as big as EA or Ubisoft doesn't mean it isn't recognizable, and it certainly doesn't mean those brands aren't bigger than Beamdog's own. I've heard of plenty of games I never played. Planescape:Torment was one of those until fairly recently. People may not have heard of Black Isle or Obsidian, but they sure as Hell have heard of Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights. Those games are legend in the RPG field, even if many have never actually played them. If I heard a great game I've never played was getting a remaster, I may be inclined to give it a try. That's their target audience. Again, I'm not against them, but let's not pretend like they reinvented the wheel or anything. They are like the RPG equivalent of Telltale (if Telltale hadn't been run by a team of monkeys who couldn't figure out that buying too many IPs would bankrupt them).
Edit: I kept saying Obsidian. I obviously meant Bioware...
