This will be one of the last times I talk about the development of ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’. I really want to focus on other things.
Imagine that once you do something incredible and, since then, everyone keeps repeating it to you, as if you were Bart Simpson in that episode where he becomes famous for saying “It wasn’t me”. Well, that’s a bit what happened to Swen Vincke, director of ‘Baldur’s Gate 3‘, who after a thousand interviews, awards and general applause is already tired of talking about his game. Rightfully so.
With his presence at the Digital Dragons event, Vincke has said on Twitter that “This will be one of the last times I talk about the development of ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’. I really want to focus on other things”. He has been going around for half a year, telling you everything you could want to know about a sequel that few had on their radar as one of the big hits of 2023.
In fact, he has already said that the next thing he is going to do is not the fourth part of ‘Baldur’s Gate’, but another different project that will drive people crazybut for which there is still a long way to go. It doesn’t matter: we can wait. In fact, Larian announced that on the horizon he had two titles he wanted to work on, both separate from the Dungeons & Dragons franchise to focus on their own ideas.
Undoubtedly, it is brave to launch a game of this nature, make everyone talk about it and then remain silent for years, but in the end it will always be better than becoming that child who repeats the same phrase over and over again because it was funny once. Hats off.
Paid campaigns on social networks impact very few people, and advertising before YouTube videos is more annoying than anything else. And if it’s noticeable with a dishwasher, imagine how it is with products directly aimed at young people like video games.
People who work in marketing will tell you: ads are becoming less effective, paid campaigns on social media only reach a few people, and the ads before YouTube videos are more annoying than anything else. And if this is noticeable in a dishwasher, imagine how it is in products specifically designed for young people like video games. More specifically, ‘Baldur’s Gate 3‘.
From Larian they are very clear in stating that “marketing is dead. Seriously. I have data to talk about it, man, there are no channels anymore. They don’t work”. All of that needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but it has its part of truth. Beyond the press copies of video games and some occasional events (nothing like what was done years ago, for example), the core of sales will be in the players themselves.
Live streams on Twitch, memes on Twitter, gameplays on YouTube… With all of this, ads are not effective at all. Well, except for the ones in the physical store, they point out. “Gamers don’t want to be sold anything”, they emphasize. And yes, once again, it’s true. But it’s easy to say from the perspective of ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’.
It’s not that easy when you have a small indie game or a title that doesn’t belong to a franchise (or that, like ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’, can afford to be in Early Access for three years), to let everything flow. There are thousands of excellent games that have sunk into the sewer of ostracism precisely due to lack of publicity, which, even if it’s just a little, catches the attention of an influencer who can try it out in front of an audience that, in turn, wants a little more.
The other side of the coin is more complicated, and it has to do with our perception of the world. We have all experienced that, when we see a massive advertising campaign for a video game in the press, we inevitably think: “Okay, why did you spend so much money on this? Wouldn’t it be better to invest it in making your game better?”. Larian has learned that not advertising works for them, but it’s not a magic recipe, especially for games that could otherwise sink. Video game alchemy doesn’t exist and the little lessons aren’t that useful. Otherwise, everyone would use them, right?
Larian has confirmed that they are abandoning further development of Baldur’s Gate, but Wizards of the Coast wants a Baldur’s Gate 4: these are their options.
It’s no surprise to anyone that Wizards of the Coast is delighted with the success of Baldur’s Gate 3. It was a brand they hadn’t used in twenty-five years and it has been a success, even greater than its two previous installments. This has made them consider something that fans have been asking for years: the need for more Baldur’s Gate. Although they are encountering some problems along the way.
That’s why Wizards of the Coast is now looking for a studio that can take on the task of making Baldur’s Gate 4. Stating that they are already talking to several potential partners, what are their options? That’s what we’re going to dissect in this article. Because the truth is that, although there are many talented studios, very few could successfully carry out such a massive project.
Few names are as obvious for making Baldur’s Gate 4 as Obsidian Entertainment. Composed of former developers from Black Isle Studios, who made the first two Baldur’s Gate games, they have specialized in RPGs and have released some of the best isometric RPGs in recent years. The problem is that being under the umbrella of Bethesda and considering that they haven’t been given a big project in years, apart from The Outer Worlds, it remains to be seen how feasible this bet is.
Other people who have the experience to successfully carry out a project of this kind are inXile Entertainment. This Californian studio, a subsidiary of Microsoft, has made excellent RPGs with The Bard’s Tale and Wasteland franchises, as well as the interesting Torment: Tides of Numenera. Spiritual successor to Planescape Torment, a game related to Baldur’s Gate. The problem is that they are a subsidiary of Microsoft and they are a relatively small studio, with 80 people, and we don’t know if they are prepared for what a project of this magnitude would entail.
Among the studios that have never touched anything related to Dungeons & Dragons, one of the best candidates is Piranha Bytes. This German studio is part of Embracer Group and has games like the Gothic, Risen, and ELEX franchises in their portfolio. The problem is that they are an even smaller studio than inXile, they have suffered monumental cuts because of Embracer, and the reception of their games has been questionable in recent years. Something that makes them doubtful candidates.
This is the most unimaginable crazy ball, but it’s not as absurd as it seems a Baldur’s Gate 4 from Capcom. Not when they have Hideaki Itsuno on their team. Dragon’s Dogma 2 has shown that they know perfectly the foundations of western RPG and how to take it to interesting and unexpected places. Including playing a lot with the terrain and the unexpected. There would be no problem in terms of human and financial resources, but the problem is evident: it is a Japanese studio and they have never made a game like Baldur’s Gate. It’s a crazy bet, although perhaps one that could bear fruit.
If there is a studio that is the perfect candidate right now to make a Baldur’s Gate 4 that is not Obsidian, it is likely to be Owlcat Games. This Cyprus-based studio has 450 employees, they are independent, and their two Pathfinder games and their Warhammer 40K game are praised by critics and the public. All of this with an evident inspiration from the classic Black Isle games. The question is whether they would be able to scale that up to the size of what Baldur’s Gate 3 was. Although if a studio seems to be the next Larian, that is Owlcat Games.
The future is interesting
Wizards of the Coast have options. Now that their best option, having Larian Studios make Baldur’s Gate 4, is no longer a possibility, they still have some options. Few. Not very clear. But there are interesting scenarios in the future for a hypothetical Baldur’s Gate 4. Something that makes us look with interest and hope to the future of this mythical franchise without a single title that is not a classic.
Baldur's Gate 3 is the latest installment of the legendary role-playing game saga set in the iconic world of Dungeons & Dragons.
Does that mean they are going to abandon Baldur’s Gate 3? Not at all. As they point out in this community update, patch 7 will soon enter closed beta phase. And it promises to be a patch that will change everything we know about the game so far.
In Patch 7, we can expect the introduction of a change that will allow players to continue the work of Larian: the ability to modify key elements of the game. Thanks to this, development teams and modders interested in Baldur’s Gate 3 will now be able to modify fundamental elements of the game. This will allow them to expand it beyond what was possible until now. Giving the game a new potential life by allowing it to be modified in a much deeper way.
On the other hand, Patch 7 will also be the last patch in which Larian will include new story content in the game. To compensate, the new content sounds really juicy. With some new narrative lines for characters with more disappointing development, such as Jaheira and Wyll, what stands out the most is that Dark Hunger will receive a new ending. As expected by fans, this ending is much darker and more brutal than the one already known, offering the possibility of playing as the Great Evil for the first time in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Patch 7 will soon be released in a closed beta for a select number of players, according to Larian themselves. Although we still have to wait to enjoy all the changes in this patch, this is a demonstration of the studio’s future thinking. By giving the tools and powers to the community, the game will be able to continue developing in the months and years to come, if the interest remains. And that’s why, while it’s sad that Larian won’t continue working on it, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be lacking Baldur’s Gate for a long, long time.
Baldur’s Gate 3 could have cross-platform support for mods in the near future, if we consider what its developers have commented on Twitter.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has a thriving community of modders. This makes the game, even months after its release, continue to grow steadily. In addition to patches and fixes from Larian, the most dedicated players are introducing all kinds of new content, making the game practically endless. Something that was already expected. And at Larian, aware of this, they have decided to help them in this regard.
After the release of the nineteenth hotfix, Larian has announced that they are working on some kind of plan to provide support for mods in a multiplatform way. This would mean that not only PC users, but also console users could benefit from them. Something very unusual in video games.
We generally don’t talk about things til they’re ready, but as you may have read, we’re making an exception. We’ve been working on a robust, cross-platform plan for mod support to be released later in year. We love our modding community and we want to support them. It’s coming. https://t.co/54GsxNshlQ
The reason why they have commented on it, even though they are still working on it, is because there have been several complaints from the modding community. Due to the amount of patches and hotfixes, modders are having trouble keeping up with updating their mods. This has led to active complaints about Larian’s frenetic ability to patch the game, forcing them to patch their mods.
Introducing cross-platform mod support seems like a good way to maintain a balance between both audiences. Those who want the game to be as polished as possible and those who want to use mods in it. A compromise that, hopefully, won’t take long to materialize.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has a new kissing animation, and it’s hilarious rather than sexy or romantic, although that’s sure to delight fans of the game.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is about to receive a new patch. As we told you yesterday, on Valentine’s Day it will receive a patch that aims to fix a handful of bugs, as well as something that the community has been asking for for a long time: better kissing animation. Something that every Baldur’s Gate 3 fan is eagerly awaiting with a bit of mischief.
It seems that Larian is experiencing the same thing. They can’t wait to show us what they’ve been working on. And that’s why they’ve dropped a little video showing us the new kissing animations, featuring none other than a little flirtation between Lae’zel and Shadowheart.
The animation is, more than sexy or sweet, hilarious. Both in metal armor, Shadowheart spinning around Lae’Zel, and finally kissing. All of that makes it more funny than romantic, but that’s not a bad thing: Baldur’s Gate 3 also has that mocking tone. And many people will enjoy that more relaxed tone, too, in some of its kisses. As long as others are more in line with what we expect.
Baldur’s Gate 3 announces a physical edition of the game and it is absolutely spectacular, as well as much cheaper than we would have imagined
Although digital game sales are increasing, physical editions are far from dying. Many of us enjoy having the game in our hands, especially with its manual, box, and carefully crafted artwork. That’s why in recent years, so many companies specialized in producing physical editions have emerged. There’s a demand. And the more cult-like a game is, the higher the demand. Few games this year have garnered as much cult following as Baldur’s Gate III.
For that reason, it shouldn’t surprise us that Larian Studios has announced a physical version for their latest game to date. The Baldur’s Gate III Deluxe Edition will have versions for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC, priced at 79.99€. It can already be pre-ordered from Larian’s store, but this edition won’t be released until sometime in the first quarter of 2024.
Surprisingly, considering its price, this version comes packed with content. On the digital side, it includes in-game and bonus elements. In-game, there’s a pack of items inspired by their Divinity franchise, a set of bard songs, a dice skin, a painting set, and several extra resources in the camp. As part of the bonus, it features the soundtrack, a digital artbook, and character sheets for all the original game characters.
When it comes to physical content, this game isn’t skimping either. Aside from the game on one (PC), two (PlayStation), or three (Xbox) discs, it includes a bunch of extra perks. These consist of a double-sided map, 32 themed stickers, patches representing factions in the game, an Azotamentes poster, the game’s soundtrack on three CDs, and a box designed to hold everything, inspired by the original Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2 boxes.
Pre-orders for this fantastic edition are already open, but be aware: shipping costs amount to 20 euros. If that’s not a problem, you can already grab this game, not only nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023 but also set to announce its release date on Xbox at the same event, scheduled for December 7th.
