Post
Classic computer RPGs came back from the dead and outsold everyone's expectations.
CRPGs, the deep isometric RPGs of the late 90s like Baldur's Gate and Fallout, were considered commercially dead by the mid-2000s. Then Kickstarter happened. Pillars of Eternity proved the audience still existed, Divinity: Original Sin 2 showed the genre could be a critical darling, and Baldur's Gate 3 detonated every expectation by winning Game of the Year at every major awards show. The renaissance proved that depth, player agency, and real consequence systems never went out of style. Publishers just stopped funding them.
Example
Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Studios spent three years in Early Access and launched in 2023 to universal acclaim, selling over 15 million copies. It proved a 100-plus hour isometric RPG with turn-based combat could be the biggest game of the year.
Why it matters
The CRPG renaissance is proof that genres do not die, they just wait for someone brave enough to invest in them properly. It reshaped what publishers consider commercially viable and gave hope to every niche genre waiting for its comeback.
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