In 2000, long before Larian Studios took the reins from BioWare on Baldur's Gate 3 and launched its award-winning sequel, Icewind Dale and Fallout developer Black Isle Studios were contracted to make the game. However, according to Obsidian Entertainment co-founder Chris Avellone, it was canceled due to an accounting error.
"I'm pretty sure a payment wasn't made to the right party," Avellone said in an interview with YouTube channel TKs-Mantis (thanks, GamesRadar+). After it was canceled, the team shifted gears to Van Buren, the original iteration of Fallout 3 that was likewise canceled.
"The moment that Baldur's Gate 3 got canceled, I knew that Van Buren wouldn't happen because, regardless of the team's intentions, regardless of how much we'd love to get it done, how many hours we put in, it wouldn't matter because executive row would likely do something," he continued.
Obsidian co-founder Josh Sawyer claimed in a 2007 interview that development on Baldur's Gate 3: The Black Hound (codename FR6 and Jefferson) ceased because publisher Interplay "coincidentally" lost the rights to use the brand name on PC, and Avellone likewise claimed that it was "very suspicious on Interplay's part."
The Black Hound was...
