As Larian Studios, the creators of the 2023 Game of the Year, Baldur's Gate 3, prepare for their next ventures, CEO Swen Vincke has shared intriguing details about a project they've decided to leave behind.
A Follow-Up to BG3 Was Already “Playable” According to Larian
BG3 DLC and BG4 Ultimately Shelved as Larian Moves On from Franchise
In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke disclosed that they had been developing a follow-up to Baldur's Gate 3 before choosing to pursue new projects. This sequel, Baldur's Gate 4, had reached a "playable" state and was something fans "would have liked."
"It's something that you all would have liked, I think," Vincke stated. "I'm sure, actually. And we actually went pretty fast, because the production machine was still warm. You could already play stuff. But you played it and you looked at it, and, like, you know, this is OK." However, after years of working on a Dungeons & Dragons-related title, the team was hesitant to commit to more time on the same IP. "I mean, we'll probably have to redo it 10 times. And do we really want to do this for the next three years?"
While Baldur's Gate 4 seemed promising, the idea of dedicating additional years to the same type of project was unappealing to Vincke and the developers. Vincke emphasized that the studio felt it was time to pursue their original ideas and bring them to life.
Morale Remains High at Larian Studios
"We should be looking at how we can do stuff that we get excited about," he said. After discussions with his teams, the consensus was to move forward. Following their success at The Game Awards 2023, Larian Studios decided to step away from Baldur's Gate 3, opting not to develop a sequel to the 2023 Game of the Year.
"I don't think, as developers, we ever felt better since we took that decision [to not make BG4]," Vincke said. "Honestly, you really cannot explain or express it, how liberated we are. So morale is super high, just because we're doing new stuff again."
"We'll carry on patching for a while and then we're all going to take a holiday and then we'll figure out what we do next," senior product manager Tom Butler mentioned at the time. With the ideas for Baldur's Gate 4 and an expansion to Baldur's Gate 3 shelved for the same reasons, Larian is now focusing on their two upcoming, undisclosed projects, which Vincke claims will be their greatest yet.
Before diving into the Baldur’s Gate series, Larian Studios worked on the Divinity series, which might see a new entry now that they've moved away from Dungeons & Dragons. Just before BG3’s release in August last year, Vincke mentioned that a sequel to Divinity: Original Sin was "definitely on the horizon," but the team needed to focus on Baldur’s Gate 3 first. Although the specifics of these projects remain undisclosed, Vincke noted that their next project in the series won't be Divinity: Original Sin 3, indicating it will differ from fans' expectations.
Meanwhile, Baldur's Gate 3's final major patch is scheduled for release in fall 2024, introducing official mod support, cross-play, and new evil endings.
