Ex-BioWare writer named creative director of Beamdog

David Gaider has joined development studio Beamdog as its new creative director. The developer announced that Gaider, who until recently was a writer at BioWare, had joined the company on its blog today.

Gaider originally applied for a senior writer position with the company, according to the announcement, but Beamdog quickly bumped him up to the directorial role. As creative director, the industry veteran will lead the studio's writing team on future projects.

Beamdog is best known for its enhanced edition releases of Baldur's Gate and its sequel. Gaider wrote the original Baldur's Gate 2 while he was at BioWare; it was his first project at the studio before he moved on to writing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the entirety of the Dragon Age franchise. While helming that series, he helped create the first gay party member to be included in a BioWare game, among other milestones.

"I recall my days working on Baldur's Gate 2 and the Throne of Bhaal expansion very fondly," Gaider said in a press release. "Thus when the opportunity arose to become creative director for a company which lives and breathes that style of gaming, how could I refuse?"

Gaider announced he was leaving his longtime studio in a tweet in January. He had been with the studio for 17 years, but told Polygon in an email that it was "time to move onto the next challenge." Gaider then teased that he'd announce his next venture at a later date.

In 2015, Beamdog announced it had a new Baldur's Gate game in the works. That game was revealed to be Siege of Dragonspear, which takes place in-between the first two Baldur's Gate titles. It's an expansion to Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and uses its same engine. A release is expected sometime this year.