Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the biggest successes of 2023. Not only within the world of video games, but in general. A dense game, full of complex mechanics, from a genre that has rarely been popular, managed to captivate the general public thanks to charismatic characters, a fascinating story, and, let’s not deceive ourselves, the ability to make an excellent game overall. But if you’re expecting more Baldur’s Gate 3, we’re afraid we have bad news for you.
According to Swen Vincke, founder of Larian Studios, the studio behind the development of Baldur’s Gate 3, they will not be producing any more content for Dungeons & Dragons. This closes the door to any kind of DLC as well as a hypothetical Baldur’s Gate 4, which, if it happens, will be done by another studio.
That doesn’t mean that was the plan from the beginning. At Larian Studios, they were considering the possibility of making some kind of DLC that would expand the game, but they finally decided that it wasn’t a good idea. According to Vincke, the game has a beginning and an end, with a well-closed story, and it’s fine that way. Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t need anything more than what it already has, and they prefer to leave it as it is. A decision that, although it may sadden us, is perfectly reasonable and very contrary to what we usually see in an industry obsessed with squeezing every success to the limit.
However, that doesn’t mean they will stop actively working on the game. As they have already announced, they are working on a mod support system for the game, and they will also continue to work on fixing errors and bugs to create the perfect version of Baldur’s Gate 3. Something they don’t plan to stop doing in the near future.
Meanwhile, it is worth remembering that Larian Studios are not the only ones working on Dungeons & Dragons. The license belongs to Wizards of the Coast and, as we know, they are working on new video games based on it. With at least one of them taking place in the same universe as Baldur’s Gate 3, from the developers of Disney Dreamlight Valley, it doesn’t seem like we’re going to run out of Dungeons & Dragons games. At least not in the short term.
Especially because, if they wish, Wizards of the Coast can continue to use the characters from Baldur’s Gate 3. As Vincke has confirmed, the characters still belong to Wizards, so if they wish, they can create stories, adventures, or even new video games where they appear or are the protagonists. If they want to do it without Larian after the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, that’s a different story. After all, they risk not reaching the level of quality and delicacy with which they have managed to captivate us at Larian.
Because the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 is due to Larian and the fact that they have been working on dense, fascinating, and very interesting RPGs for several decades. With Baldur’s Gate 3 giving them the opportunity to show what they are capable of. Something that seems to have not yet reached its full potential.
Vincke has wanted to emphasize that, from Larian, they have been working on a new project, at least, since January. Pointing out that it is not at all what we expect, he has stated that now the team has grown a lot thanks to the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, and that he is looking forward to us seeing what they are capable of now with even more resources. Something that makes us feel a tremendous curiosity to know what will be the next mysterious step of this studio that has shown that they are, today, among the best in the world.
