We’ve Taken a Lot of Creative Risks with Baldur’s Gate 3, More Than You Would Expect

Baldur’s Gate 3 is in development. It feels good to write those words and be assured that there will be a new installment in the revered cRPG franchise, almost twenty years after the release of Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

It feels even better to know that it’s being handled by Larian Studios, the development team that better managed to recapture the long-lost cRPG magic with Divinity: Original Sin II, a true masterpiece of the genre.

In an interview with Game Informer, Larian CEO Swen Vincke briefly discussed the process of translating the D&D experience into a game with Baldur’s Gate 3. He also hinted the developers are taking a lot of creative risks with the project, perhaps even more than one would imagine for such a big undertaking.

It’s really how do we capture the books, the rule system, the feeling you have at the table in a video game, and how do we do that without alienating people that have never played D&D in their lives. Mixing that, I think we found it. You guys will have to judge. You can’t make a game without taking creative risks. You can, but then you’re just making the same game. We’ve taken a lot of creative risks, more than people will expect, I think, considering the amount of money we’re throwing at it.

We don’t know any concrete details about Baldur’s Gate 3 yet, other than it’s being developed for both PC and Google Stadia (of which Swen Vincke is a fan). However, if you’re really itching for it, there’s an adventure module campaign titled Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus that serves as a prequel (taking place about a hundred years prior to the events featured in Baldur’s Gate 3).

In other Larian Studios news, the Belgian developer announced yesterday the opening of its fifth office, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The others are in Gent, Dublin, Quebec City and Saint Petersburg.