We reported a couple of days ago, based on a clip of video captured in a documentary about Beamdog, that the studio might be working on a new Planescape RPG. The clip revealed character concept art of Planescape's Fated faction, under the heading of Planescape: Unraveled—itself a play on the name of a major character in Planescape: Torment.
Given the studio's history with Infinity Engine games (and its initial "no comment" response), it seemed like a fairly clear sign that Things Were Happening. Today, however, Beamdog boss Trent Oster officially denied that it's happening.
"The Beamdog creative and art teams often explore concepts, pitches, and designs touching on different Dungeons & Dragons and unique settings. This was the case of the Planescape: Unravelled character concepts shown in the recently released Next Level documentary," Oster said in a statement.
"At any given time, there are a few of these exploration projects happening in different parts of the studio. They’re typically not shared outside of the company as they can be interpreted as a new project. We do these exploration projects as a way to find new ways to bring different ideas and creative styles to projects we’re working on. We’ve found it’s a great way to let the creative team stretch themselves and expand their skills. Occasionally, we return to these explorative projects and incorporate them into other things we’re working on."
To the bottom line: Is Beamdog currently working on a new Planescape game? "Afraid not," Oster said. "The team is hard at work on other projects at this time. Planescape is an amazing setting that we enjoyed exploring as a part of developing Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition and we’d love to visit it again in the future. Only the Lady of Pain knows if that’ll happen, and she’s not sharing."
The fact that an "exploration" has taken place means that the idea of a new, official Planescape is at least on the radar, and that's good news—but for now, it seems that the hope for a return to Sigil remains faint.
