Over the weekend, Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios shocked fans when it announced its plans to move on from the series. Speaking at Game Developers Conference, Larian founder and CEO Swen Vincke revealed that there are no longer plans to make DLC, and the studio will not be developing Baldur’s Gate 4. Unsurprisingly, this led to a lot of speculation about the decision, with some believing there might have been a conflict between Larian and Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast. Vincke took to Twitter to address those concerns, revealing that there are no hard feelings between the companies.
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“Reading the reddit threads, I would like to clear up something. WOTC is not to blame for us taking a different direction. On the contrary, they really did their best and have been a great licensor for us, letting us do our thing. This is because it’s what’s best for Larian,” writes Vincke.
The Future of Baldur’s Gate and Larian Studios
The Baldur’s Gate series is part of Dungeons & Dragons, which is an IP owned by Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. It’s highly likely Baldur’s Gate will continue in some capacity, but given how early this all is, there’s been no indication which studio will pick up the series from here. The first games in the series were developed by BioWare, with updates and expansions developed by other studios. Larian took over with Baldur’s Gate 3, and the game was released to massive critical and commercial acclaim. As a result, fans were expecting the studio to continue on with the series, but that will not be the case.
Larian has offered no information about what it will be working on, other than the fact that the company has two games it wants to make next. Larian did start work on DLC for Baldur’s Gate 3, but Vincke revealed at GDC that those plans were scrapped as “it wasn’t really coming from the heart.” Hopefully the next project from the studio will be something that it’s passionate about!
Baldur’s Gate 3 x Vampire Survivors
Interestingly enough, the announcement from Vincke came just days after the Larian CEO teased a Baldur’s Gate 3 collaboration with Vampire Survivors. Presumably, Larian moving on from Baldur’s Gate will have no impact on the collaboration; the collaboration will likely center on new content in Vampire Survivors, though nothing has been made official. Vampire Survivors has not had a lot of collaborations with other teams and studios just yet, though content based on Among Us was added late last year. Presumably, the game’s next collaboration will be somewhat similar, adding new maps, weapons, and playable characters inspired by Baldur’s Gate 3.
What do you want to see from Larian next? Are you surprised the team isn’t going to make Baldur’s Gate 4? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
[H/T: IGN]
