Pillars of Eternity expansion is in the works

Published: March 17, 2015 7:51 PM /

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Pillars of Eternity Logo

Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming PC fantasy RPG Pillars of Eternity will be getting at least one expansion, according to executive producer and lead programmer Adam Brennecke. The plans for an expansion were revealed Monday, March 16th in a Reddit post dedicated to answering questions about Pillars of of Eternity in the game's subreddit.

Very little has been revealed by the planned expansion so far. Brennecke described it as, “About the same size (area wise) of Tales of the Sword Coast,” the expansion for Baldur's Gate. No other details have been released as of yet. The Reddit discussion also featured discussions of a number of other questions about Pillars of Eternity by Brennecke, project lead Josh Sawyer, and narrative designer Eric Fenstermaker.

Pillars of Eternity Screenshot

Pillars of Eternity is an isometric RPG set in an original fantasy universe, with tactical party-based battles and gameplay inspired by classic Infinity Engine RPGs Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment. Obsidian Entertainment was founded by former developers of Black Isle Studios, the company responsible for Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale series, so they certainly know their way around the genre.

This prospect was enough to make Pillars of Eternity's Kickstarter campaign a runaway success, handily surpassing its initial goal of $1.1 million and savagely curb-stomping a series of stretch goals before concluding fundraising in October of 2012 with just a hair under $4 million. It was the biggest video game Kickstarter ever at the time, dethroning the then-unnamed Double Fine adventure game that would become Broken Age. It was deposed a year later from that throne by Torment: Tides of Numenera, which was also inspired by a classic Infinity Engine RPG. It even includes Planescape: Torment lead designer and Obsidian co-founder Chris Avellone. (So it seems as long as you can somehow convince Chris Avellone to join the project when you Kickstart your brilliant idea for a roguelike/platformer hybrid based on the Big Bad Beetleborgs license, you're golden.)

Pillars of Eternity Screenshot

Between the developer's pedigree and the Kickstarter hype, expectations are riding extremely high for Pillars of Eternity. With those expectations and a team that has worked in the field for many years an expansion is the natural next step. Obsidian has something of a history of releasing what should have been amazing games that were dragged down by severe bugs and rushed or cut content, though their more recent releases have shown considerable improvement in that regard. Hopefully that will continue with Pillars of Eternity.

Pillars of Eternity is scheduled for release- hopefully as a properly finished game and not an Alpha Protocol-esque technical nightmare- for PC, Mac, and Linux on March 26th.

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John Markley is a freelance writer and lifelong gamer from Illinois. When not busy reading, writing, playing games, or reminiscing about the time a series… More about John