Baldur's Gate Larian is moving away from D&D, no BG3 DLC or BG4

[PlayerEmers]

https://www.ign.com/articles/larian...ldurs-gate-3-dlc-expansions-or-baldurs-gate-4
No DLC nor sequel, they are going for something entirely new.

 

[scytheavatar]

Larian Studios Won't Make Baldur's Gate 3 DLC, Expansions, or Baldur's Gate 4​

The developer is moving away from D&D.​

By Alex Stedman

Updated: Mar 22, 2024 2:43 am

Posted: Mar 22, 2024 2:05 am


At a Game Developers Conference (GDC) panel today, Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke dropped something of a bombshell by revealing that the developer isn't planning to release any expansions or DLC for Baldur's Gate 3, nor a Baldur's Gate 4.

Instead, Vincke said at the panel, Larian plans to move away from Dungeons & Dragons entirely and do something new, leaving the IP in publisher Wizards of the Coast's hands.
It's a big surprise, considering the massive success of Baldur's Gate 3, with many fans assuming that a DLC or expansion would be on the way. Larian has released several major free patches that have added, among other things, a playable epilogue party.
Larian has also commented about the possibility of doing a DLC in the past. Speaking to IGN at gamescom 2023, senior product manager at Larian Studios Tom Butler said they had "discussions" on doing more for Baldur's Gate 3, although they were focused on patches then.

"We'll carry on patching for a while and then we're all going to take a holiday and then we'll figure out what we do next," Butler said at the time. "But at the moment, we genuinely have discussions. We want to do more. We don't know what yet."

Beyond that, however, Larian has never officially said more Baldur's Gate 3 was on the way. As previously mentioned, though, plenty of new content has been added to the hit RPG since last year's August launch, and there's so much in the massive game already that the physical edition comes in at four disks. The developers are currently working on a "robust and cross-platform" mod support plan to accomodate additions from the community as well.

The first and second Baldur's Gate games were developed by BioWare. Before Baldur's Gate 3, Larian was best known for developing another RPG in the Divinity series.

It seems like Larian's next project could be another Divinity entry. In an interview with IGN shortly before the release of Baldur's Gate 3, Vincke said a Divinity: Original Sin sequel was "definitely" on the horizon, but the team needed to work through Baldur's Gate 3 first.

It's unclear if Hasbro, which owns Wizards of the Coast, will look to another developer for a potential Baldur's Gate 4, but the property has no doubt been hugely successful for them. It was revealed last month that Hasbro has made a whopping $90 million off Baldur's Gate 3. In addition to the financial success, Baldur's Gate 3 has been a huge hit among fans and critics as well, winning the top prize at last year's Game Awards and getting a 10/10 from several outlets, including IGN.

Elsewhere at the panel, Vincke also showed off early versions of various characters, including a very different Astarion.

Unusually ballsy move from Sven and Larian here, since WOTC on their side has been extremely gracious and full of praises for Larian. This level of bridge burning seems unnecessary especially when Larian has been moving towards not announcing projects until they are cooked enough.

 

[Cryomancer]

I think that Swen said in a interview that he don't wanan to become a forgotten realms studio and have his company depending on another's company IP. Not sure if my memory is playing tricks on me. So, would't be BG4.

 

[Hagashager]

I doubt their relationship was all that easy. I seem to remember Sawyer talking about WOTC in 2005 for NWN 2 being much harder to work with than Lucasfilm for KOTOR 2.

Given Larian's checkered history with publishers I wouldn't be surprised if Sven, on a personal level, just doesn't wanna do it.

 

[Alienman]

I hope they give BG4 to Owlcat to troll them, but still expect something similar or bigger than BG3.

 

[Cryomancer]

I seem to remember Sawyer talking about WOTC in 2005 for NWN 2 being much harder to work with than Lucasfilm for KOTOR 2.

Yep. And this was pre Woke WoTC. Is just a guess but I believe that the insane amount of ch 3 bugs and poor performance was thanks to them demanding Larian to hire incompetent diversity hires, as well the wokization of character creation.

I hope they give BG4 to Owlcat to troll them, but still expect something similar or bigger than BG3.

LOL. No. I hope that OwlCat adapts a retroclone next.

 

[Dodo1610]

- no plans for DLC, BG4, or any other DND game
- wants to cut dev time to 3-4 years for next game
- early access launch planned
- still in pre production
- still wants to make his "RPG to dwarf them all"


He also admits they cut the epilogue to be able to release before Starfield


He also wants to play Dragon's Dogma 2 ASAP.

 

[Shrimp]

Am I simply misremembering or did they not already state that they'd focus on a game in the Divinity universe 'after BG3' before the game even had come out? Still surprised they apparently cut ties with WOTC. I guess this means there won't be a definitive edition of BG3 then?
The rest of it sounds like stock Larian type stuff though, honestly probably for the better if they try to downscale their operations.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

I hope they'll work on another license or a new IP next.

I even liked several of the past Divinity games, to an extent, but... Quite frankly I feel like I could gladly go on for the rest of my life without ever having to interact with Rivellon ever again, as far as fictional settings go.

 

[TheDarkUrge]

- cut ties with WOTC
- no plans for DLC, BG4, or any other DND game
- wants to cut dev time to 3-4 years for next game
- early access launch planned
- still in pre production
- still wants to make his "RPG to dwarf them all"


He also admits they cut the epilogue to be able to release before Starfield


He also wants to play Dragon's Dogma 2 ASAP.

I'm guessing Hasbro/WOTC got too big of a cut from BG3 and Larian is hard ball negotiating here to lower it if hasbro wants a DLC. I hope they aren't doing divinity for the next game, that universe is fucking terrible. And hopefully they fired every single writer because their endings have been shit and heavily tainted otherwise really good games

 

[gurugeorge]

On the one hand, I admire Swen for what he said there and for sticking to his guns re. not exploiting the BG3 success in a predictable way. On the other hand, I prefer the FR as a setting to their own Divinity IP

I think ultimately, the 5e ruleset cramped Larian's style too much. It's kind of ironic, and a bit sad, that Larian won the big prize of doing a BG game, but the mechanics they were stuck with are unsuited to big, spectacular combat of the kind they prefer.

 

[JasonNH]

I'm guessing Hasbro/WOTC got too big of a cut from BG3 and Larian is hard ball negotiating here to lower it if hasbro wants a DLC. I hope they aren't doing divinity for the next game, that universe is fucking terrible. And hopefully they fired every single writer because their endings have been shit and heavily tainted otherwise really good games

I think the opposite. WOTC was looking for a bigger cut and more control over any future work and Sven noped out. Connect the dots with his comments about publisher greed at the GDC Awards and his disappointment that everyone with whom he originally worked to get the license has been laid off. He has never been big on expansions or DLC, and while he may have entertained it for a moment with BG3, WOTC started picking at the scabs Sven has from his career with publishers and he quickly walked away.

 

[TheDarkUrge]

I'm guessing Hasbro/WOTC got too big of a cut from BG3 and Larian is hard ball negotiating here to lower it if hasbro wants a DLC. I hope they aren't doing divinity for the next game, that universe is fucking terrible. And hopefully they fired every single writer because their endings have been shit and heavily tainted otherwise really good games

I think the opposite. WOTC was looking for a bigger cut and more control over any future work and Sven noped out. Connect the dots with his comments about publisher greed at the GDC Awards and his disappointment that everyone with whom he originally worked to get the license has been laid off. He has never been big on expansions or DLC, and while he may have entertained it for a moment with BG3, WOTC started picking at the scabs Sven has from his career with publishers and he quickly walked away.

It's possible but WOTC doesnt solely make money off video games. Larian does. WOTC directly tied bg3 into avernus for a reason. Like you said DLC for this game would be a massive headache to figure out where to go with it, and for that reason I think larian would require more money to deal with it, rather than being able to work on a brand new game that they would be able to charge more for and not require royalties at all. They are just delaying a big game by working on BG3 DLC so the monetary compensation would need to reflect that IMO.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Larian Studios Won't Make Baldur's Gate 3 DLC, Expansions, or Baldur's Gate 4​

The developer is moving away from D&D.​

By Alex Stedman

Updated: Mar 22, 2024 2:43 am

Posted: Mar 22, 2024 2:05 am


At a Game Developers Conference (GDC) panel today, Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke dropped something of a bombshell by revealing that the developer isn't planning to release any expansions or DLC for Baldur's Gate 3, nor a Baldur's Gate 4.

Instead, Vincke said at the panel, Larian plans to move away from Dungeons & Dragons entirely and do something new, leaving the IP in publisher Wizards of the Coast's hands.
It's a big surprise, considering the massive success of Baldur's Gate 3, with many fans assuming that a DLC or expansion would be on the way. Larian has released several major free patches that have added, among other things, a playable epilogue party.
Larian has also commented about the possibility of doing a DLC in the past. Speaking to IGN at gamescom 2023, senior product manager at Larian Studios Tom Butler said they had "discussions" on doing more for Baldur's Gate 3, although they were focused on patches then.

"We'll carry on patching for a while and then we're all going to take a holiday and then we'll figure out what we do next," Butler said at the time. "But at the moment, we genuinely have discussions. We want to do more. We don't know what yet."

Beyond that, however, Larian has never officially said more Baldur's Gate 3 was on the way. As previously mentioned, though, plenty of new content has been added to the hit RPG since last year's August launch, and there's so much in the massive game already that the physical edition comes in at four disks. The developers are currently working on a "robust and cross-platform" mod support plan to accomodate additions from the community as well.

The first and second Baldur's Gate games were developed by BioWare. Before Baldur's Gate 3, Larian was best known for developing another RPG in the Divinity series.

It seems like Larian's next project could be another Divinity entry. In an interview with IGN shortly before the release of Baldur's Gate 3, Vincke said a Divinity: Original Sin sequel was "definitely" on the horizon, but the team needed to work through Baldur's Gate 3 first.

It's unclear if Hasbro, which owns Wizards of the Coast, will look to another developer for a potential Baldur's Gate 4, but the property has no doubt been hugely successful for them. It was revealed last month that Hasbro has made a whopping $90 million off Baldur's Gate 3. In addition to the financial success, Baldur's Gate 3 has been a huge hit among fans and critics as well, winning the top prize at last year's Game Awards and getting a 10/10 from several outlets, including IGN.

Elsewhere at the panel, Vincke also showed off early versions of various characters, including a very different Astarion.

Unusually ballsy move from Sven and Larian here, since WOTC on their side has been extremely gracious and full of praises for Larian. This level of bridge burning seems unnecessary especially when Larian has been moving towards not announcing projects until they are cooked enough.

Moving away from degenerate D&D, Greenwood's setting and Wotc in general can only be good for them.

After all, they were just a ball and chain. Nonsense changes in the setting, stupid mechanics, probably some political commissars. What's more, I think they torpedoed many of Swen's decisions.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

I'm hoping for the sequel to Divinity 2. I might have to go install it now.

 

[Infinitron]

Quoting myself:

I think some people are too quick to assume that Larian want to turn into a studio that works on licenses. This is a company that did nothing but Divinity for over 15 years, they like making their own stuff!

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Quoting myself:

I think some people are too quick to assume that Larian want to turn into a studio that works on licenses. This is a company that did nothing but Divinity for over 15 years, they like making their own stuff!

I mean… That’s not a earth shattering revelation. No one would be surprised if we were getting more Divinity.

Some of us would just be disappointed.
Because as far as settings go, it’s mostly a stinker.

 

[ColonelMace]

Legitimately laudable.

 

[Alienman]

Plz, no more divinity. Can't stand the lul so random world of divinty.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

On the one hand, I admire Swen for what he said there and for sticking to his guns re. not exploiting the BG3 success in a predictable way. On the other hand, I prefer the FR as a setting to their own Divinity IP

I think ultimately, the 5e ruleset cramped Larian's style too much. It's kind of ironic, and a bit sad, that Larian won the big prize of doing a BG game, but the mechanics they were stuck with are unsuited to big, spectacular combat of the kind they prefer.

Even a Belgian-developed RPG campaign setting can't be as bad as Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms:

 

[Gargaune]

You gotta admire Swen's "hit it and quit it" aplomb. Have they cast a new James Bond yet?

 

[Space Satan]

Sad. I would rather see them make Waterdeep RPG, than make another Divinity. Can't stand Divinity setting.
But this decision mostly due to genius management of Hasbro.

We learned last year, during Hasbro's big layoffs, that they fired basically everyone who worked with Larian.

And working with that mumbo-jumbos angered Swen

"Greed has been fucking this whole thing up for so long, since I started," Vincke said, while collecting the GDCA Best Narrative award for Baldur's Gate 3. "I've been fighting publishers my entire life and I keep on seeing the same, same, same mistakes over, and over and over.

"It's always the quarterly profits," he continued, "the only thing that matters are the numbers, and then you fire everybody and then next year you say 'shit I'm out of developers' and then you start hiring people again, and then you do acquisitions, and then you put them in the same loop again, and it's just broken...

"You don't have to," Vincke went on. "You can make reserves. Just slow down a bit. Slow down on the greed. Be resilient, take care of the people, don't lose the institutional knowledge that's been built up in the people you lose every single time, so you have to go through the same cycle over and over and over. It really pisses me off."

 

[Butter]

That's crazy. What setting are they going to use for DOS4 if not D&D?

 

[Space Satan]

Ok, we have plenty of Sci-Fi settings and, well, if we rule out Hasbro...not that much of a fantasy remaining. I would like to see them developing their own franchize BUT TNOT IN DIVINITY SETTING IT SUCKS. Whole setting lokks like a parody, like you are playing a Discworld but unironic and not that fun.

 

[Shaki]

I think that Swen said in a interview that he don't wanan to become a forgotten realms studio and have his company depending on another's company IP.

Yeah, but in that case they need to finally create some good original IP. If they just go back to Divinity shit, they're going to fall off massively. Swen apparently has nostalgia for it, but let's be honest, this shit gotta be the blandest, most boring and uninspired setting ever. Whenever Divinity games did well, it was always in spite of the setting, it never helped. I'm pretty sure even among hardcore Larian fanboys, no one was ever like "Oh boy, I can't wait for another game in Divinity world!".