Beamdog, the Edmonton-based game developer known for their remastered versions of the Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games, have started a new digital magazine focused on the CRPG development industry: The Familiar.

Today we’re pleased to present Beamdog’s first digital publication, The Familiar! We partnered with Dialect (creators of Dragon+) to develop this quarterly (or approximately quarterly) app with industry interviews, fiction, contests, Beamdog exclusives, and everything else you didn’t know you needed to know about the CRPG industry.

How much does all this incredible content cost, you ask? The answer is nothing! You can download The Familiar for FREE as an app from the iTunes App Store or GooglePlay.

Our inaugural issue is available right now and takes a look at the state of the CRPG industry, from our own Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition to n-Space’s Sword Coast Legends. We also have a step-by-step guide for adding custom portraits to the Enhanced Edition games plus two beautiful free portraits. (The installation process is different for every platform, so if you’ve been wondering how to bring over your Drizzt portrait to your Galaxy S5, you’ll definitely want to take a look.)

Most excitingly…there’s a piece of original short fiction about Schael Corwin, one of the new NPCs in the upcoming Siege of Dragonspear. Oh, and check out the amazing cover art by Heather Hudson!

The app also includes an Updates feed that pulls the latest Facebook and Twitter (at minimum) posts made by Beamdog. Individual magazine issues are separate downloads within the app.