We're already in that week of the year where anything is possible, from the biggest disappointments over what's missing to the greatest joys from the surprises. Perhaps this announcement falls more into the latter category.
According to reports from PC Gamer, Wizards of the Coast is preparing remakes of both Baldur's Gate 1 and Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, in which the then lead designer at BioWare, Kevin Martens, is said to be involved. Martens has been a key figure in the development of fantasy video games from then until now. After working on Baldur's Gate 2 and Mass Effect, he left BioWare to join Blizzard, where he served as lead content designer for Diablo III.
At some point between then and now, Martens returned to Wizards of the Coast, where he has apparently been supporting the development of Exodus with Archetype Entertainment, and now appears to be specifically focused on the Baldur's Gate 2 remake, according to the outlet's source. It is also reported that Wizards of the Coast's plans involve releasing these two revamped titles ahead of an "inevitable" Baldur's Gate 4, now without Larian Studios, perhaps aiming for a release close to the premiere of the Baldur's Gate 3 sequel series currently in production at HBO.
The scope or depth of these potential remakes of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 is unclear, but it would be unlikely that the final result would involve treating them in the same way as the third instalment, which would require a titanic effort and budget to convert those hundreds or thousands of hours into a modern title. However, revamping the gameplay into a hybrid of real-time action and turn-based combat would certainly be plausible.
Would you play remakes of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2?