PC Gaming @lemmy.ca alessandro @lemmy.ca 8 mo. ago

Baldur’s Gate 3 lead says Wizards of the Coast “is not to blame” for new direction

www.pcgamesn.com Baldur’s Gate 3 lead says Wizards of the Coast “is not to blame” for new direction

Swen Vincke says DnD license holder Wizards of the Coast “did its best” and let Larian Studios “do our thing” developing Baldur’s Gate 3.

29 comments

I mean, why wouldn't they go back to their own IP they have 100% control over?

The chance to make BG3 was obviously worth it, but Larian doesn't need DnD to make video games.

And honestly I'm happy they're not making bg4 next. But I hope a decade from now they do. These games aren't CoD, we dont need to crank out sequels immediately.
- I wouldn't have bought BG3 if it weren't for D&D, but you're right, after how awesome that game was, I'll definitely buy whatever they make next.
  
  The Divinity games they made before this were wildly popular and have a lot of the same things that made bg3 popular.
  
  If you have played Divinity 2 yeah, scoop it up on the next sale
- I bought BG3 because Larian was doing it. I absolutely loved the Divinity games and knew they made quality products. It was cool to see a D&D game done so well but that was not the main selling point. I do hope that they revisit D&D one day to do a Ravenloft setting but I’m probably just dreaming.
- Hell, CoD would probably also be a better franchise if there weren't new versions so often.
- I mean, why wouldn’t they go back to their own IP they have 100% control over?
  
  A smart company would acknowledge that they needed the outside expertise to be so successful and not shoot themselves in the foot by assuming they wil get the same results in house. [Edit: I am saying WotC needs to acknowledge they need Larian's expertise]
  
  I also like it when they let a game of this scooe with a lot of replayability stick around for years before cranking out the next one. That gives time for replays to experience the alternate choices and for modding to be added so the community can expand as well.
  
  Edit: apparently I read this backwards as WotC taking 100% of their DnD Ip back from Larian. Probably misread it so due to the context of WotC taking control over the desktop setting.
  
  They piggybacked off the success of dos2 which was a better game anyways. Sure, theyll lose the dnd fans that play solely for the familiar IP, but theyve gained enough name recognition to be massively successful on their own. Just keep making good games like From Soft & that's all they need.
  
  You mean they need WotC's expertise to handle D&D 5E properly? Or to make a good game?
  
  As far as the former... I think that the partnership was a major factor in BG3's success, but I expect it has more to do with the D&D brand and BG nostalgia, than any virtues of the 5E system. Maybe WotC's contributions to worldbuilding and lore helped... Larian are of course good at that in their own right, but there's a whole Forgotten Realms canon to navigate. (I don't actually know what WotC contributed in that regard, mind you)
  
  In the case of the latter... The Divinity system is pretty heckin good, and in many ways a better CRPG system than any edition of D&D. Larian ARE experts at making really solid CRPGs, after all. The Divinity series is perhaps the most successful ever, maybe now behind BG3... So returning to their own IP would not be shooting themselves in the foot by any stretch, IMO. More like trading one kind of overwhelming success for a different kind of overwhelming success.
  
  WotC were the ones who needed to contract an outside developer. Larian obviously needed their help to develop a D&D game specifically to get the details right, but they're quite capable of making a good game without them, that's how they got the licence in the first place.
  
  What outside expertise? Hasbro contributed nothing except the IP, and the team at Hasbro that actually worked on BG3 has all been laid off anyway.
Swen describes how relieved his team was that they weren't going to be doing more Baldur's Gate, and even in BG3 development they talked about the difficulties of making 5E DnD work in a video game past 12th level. Larian clearly gave all they had for 6 years of development and they didn't chop it into DLC the way a lot of studios would have. In my mind it's like BG3 launched in "Game of the Year Complete Edition" with all DLC included.

Part of what made BG3 special was how excited the team was about working on it. I'm actually happy to hear they aren't going to try and force more content. I'm looking forward to seeing what they make with the ideas they're excited about next.
- I mean, a lot of pc players bought it when it was just act 1.
  
  I got more enjoyment playing that over and over than I did all of Diablo IV, so it was more like one huge DLC for us just getting the rest of the game.
  
  I could 100% see some other studios making act 1 the base game then selling each next act as DLC.
- the difficulties of making 5E DnD work in a video game past 12th level.
  
  Making the tabletop game work past 12th level is a slog too!
  
  Larian did a great job of making levels 1-12 work better in a video game than they do on a tabletop, and I say that having enjoyed playing on the tabletop when 5e was released. BG3 got the group back together after I got a bit burnt out DMing a tabletop campaign.
- Difficulties of making 5e DnD work in a video game beyond 12th level
  
  BG3 might have missed the mark for me in the end, but God Damn do I feel that one. Full respect to them for managing to make such a good game even when working from such a flawed base
While larian was always respected by the crpg community, BG3 brought them to such a wide audience that whatever they make next is all but guaranteed to be popular. They don't need the D&D IP anymore, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

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