No one will be surprised if we say that video games are very expensive. Both in time and money, making a video game is a feat that borders on a miracle, due to the amount of resources that need to be coordinated for things to work out. Not to mention for them to turn out well, or even groundbreaking. And because every video game is a miracle in itself, we were not surprised by the statements of the CEO of Larian Studios, developers of Baldur’s Gate 3.
The CEO of Larian and director of Baldur’s Gate, Swen Vincke, had a conference in Poland, at the Digital Dragons event. In the Q&A session, Vincke was asked about crunch in Baldur’s Gate 3. He confessed that there was, although less than in their previous games, and with some nuances.
Admitting that crunch is inevitable when you want to finish something, especially when it’s something as complex as a video game, he also wanted to clarify that the team never stayed late or had to work on weekends. In his own words, “the offices were never crowded after 8pm and on weekends, very, very rarely”. Something that makes us think that it wasn’t as dramatic a situation as we might fear when we hear the word crunch.
Something that Vincke also mentioned at this event is that, due to the complexity of Baldur’s Gate 3, they came to fear that it would be impossible to complete. Although it would have been a logical thought for them to compromise the quality or quantity of game content, they decided not to do it. For them, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game that is exactly as it should be, and they preferred to take the time and space to do it right, rather than simply thinking in economic terms.
After finishing their plans to continue updating Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios are currently working on two new RPGs. In addition, they have just opened a new office in Poland that they hope will help them in the development of what they have defined as “two extremely ambitious new RPGs”.
