Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition removed from sale following "contractual issues", Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition on hold

UPDATE: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition was pulled from App Store at the request of publisher Atari.

Developer Overhaul Games removed the game from sale from the App Store and its own distribution website Beamdog earlier this week, citing mysterious "contractual issues".

Trent Oster said at the time the decision was made "at our publishing partner's request as we attempt to resolve a number of contractual issues".

Now, in an interview with Game Informer, Oster has named that publishing partner as Atari and said a legal issue was the spanner in the works.

"At the request of Atari legal we removed the game from sale on Beamdog and the App stores," Oster said. "Atari is still selling the game through their channels. We're trying to remedy the situation and I'm hopeful we can come to an arrangement."

The PC version of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is still on sale on Atari's website and Steam.

ORIGINAL STORY: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition has been removed from sale following "contractual issues".

The RPG remake is no longer on sale on distributor Beamdog's website or on the Apple App Store.

In an open letter published on the Baldur's Gate website, Trent Oster, president of Beamdog and developer Overhaul Games and a former BioWare game director, said the decision was made "at our publishing partner's request as we attempt to resolve a number of contractual issues".

The mystery dispute is holding up the release of the latest patch and the Android version of the game, and also prevents the launch of Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition, Oster said.

"I sincerely apologise to the series' fans and promise we are working diligently to remedy the situation," he continued.

So, what's the problem? "We are unable to discuss details of the complex legal matters surrounding this issue at this time," a FAQ reads.

"Please be aware that we are extremely unhappy with the situation and are doing our best to work past it. We have put a lot of hard work into this series, and are eager for fans to see it.

"Unfortunately, we cannot offer the game for sale until all issues with our publishing partner have been resolved. We do not have a specific date for when the game will be available again."

Overhaul has been developing Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition for some time now, it said, but until all these issues are resolved it can't sell it.

"This has resulted in significant amounts of wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the development team."

There are a number of stakeholders involved in the Enhanced Edition remakes of the Baldur's Gate series, adding complexity to their release.

The team at Overhaul Games is made up of old BioWare staff. Their leader Trent Oster co-founded BioWare along with his brother Brent Oster, Marcel Zeschuk and the doctors Greg Zeschuk, Ray Muzyka and Augustine Yip. Publisher Atari is the Dungeons & Dragons licence holder for video games (Baldur's Gate is based on the D&D rule set), but then there's Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast to think about. Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, which owns and publishes the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is (was?) an officially licensed Wizards of the Coast product. It's all a bit messy.