Update (3/22/24): Following his GDC presentation, Vincke affirmed that Larian was doing “the right thing” in not continuing Baldur’s Gate 3.
Noting the disappointment from players at a lack of continuation, he argued it “doesn’t need more.” The studio made the game “with a beginning, middle, and end.”
However, he did clarify that the studio will continue to update the RPG, from mod support to “extra cinematics” for some endings. But new content is a hard “no.”
As for its cast, Vincke noted they’re now in Wizards of the Coast’s hands. “I think [WOTC] understands how important they are to the community, and I trust they’ll be treated with respect.”
While acknowledging it’s “not easy” to bid farewell to Karlach and the rest of the cast, he said Larian always knew it’d happen. “We learnt a lot from creating them, and I’m very eager to see those lessons applied to new characters.”
“[We’ve] grown a lot during BG3,” he continued, “and I think you can be very excited for what that means for our next game.”
Original story: Baldur’s Gate 3 is fully done, says Larian, and no DLC or sequel are in the works.
At GDC 2024, CEO Swen Vincke broke the news during his panel on the fantasy-RPG and the process of its development. “We’re not going to make new expansions, which everyone is expecting us to do,” he stated. “We’re not going to make Baldur’s Gate 4…we’re going to move on.”
He said it at GDC, of all places, because the studio’s been “bombarded” with questions about continuing the hit title. Its next project is going to be “something new,” which he was naturally secretive about.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s massive success
Since its August 2023 launch, Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a critical and commercial darling. Its success has been noted multiple times, to the point Hasbro realized that players want great Dungeons & Dragons video games going forward.
Likening Baldur’s Gate 3 to a dog named “Gustav,” he said it was time to bid farewell to that dog and adopt a new one. “Gustav is his own thing, but hopefully he and [the new project] will be able to get along pretty well.”
Given Larian’s previous experience with franchises, you’d think it had one more Baldur’s game in it. But Wincke reminded the audience the property belonged to Wizards of the Coast, and it was free to continue the franchise at any point with another developer.
While Larian has closed the door on Baldur’s Gate, it’s been more than happy to reveal other development secrets this week, such as the importance of not showing hole.
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