Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear dated for early 2016

Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition expansion that was announced in the summer, is set to come out in early 2016. The launch window was revealed in a Dragon+ interview with Beamdog boss Trent Oster, in which he also explained that it was originally envisioned as just a small, inexpensive piece of DLC that was intended to be released ahead of Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced Edition.

"It grew in scope and we realized we were tight on time and needed to put more effort into Baldur’s Gate II ahead of its launch, so Dragonspear went on the backburner," Oster said. "When we came back and re-examined it had become a fifteen-hour expansion. At that stage it was still going to be DLC, although for a little more money."

Writer Amber Scott added that the expansion was "too crowded" with quests and characters by that point, so the decision was made to expand it with additional dungeons and open-world areas. As a result, Siege of Dragonspear now clocks in at around 35 hours, according to Oster, "if you play the critical path and don't do much besides."

The story still bridges the gap between the two Baldur's Gates with the tale of Caelar Argent, the Shining Lady, who's leading a mysterious crusade out of the northern regions of Faerun. Scott explained that one of the expansion's key features will be the addition of large-scale combat, which will enable players to take part in "giant battles" alongside groups of allies.

It will be possible to play Dragonspear with a brand-new party, although Scott said it will likely be more "emotionally impactful" if you import your group from the first game. Either way, a copy of the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition will be required to play. Some minor but useful-sounding changes to the user interface are also on the way, although they'll be patched into the Enhanced Edition games with or without the Dragonspear expansion installed.

On a separate but very relevant note, Oster tweeted earlier today that Siege of Dragonspear is now "content complete," although a proper release date is still a ways off.