Larian Studios
Larian Studios will no longer work on Baldur’s Gate 3, confirms they’re not making expansions or sequels
Larian Studios has revealed they’re not sticking with the Dungeons and Dragon’s license, instead already starting work on something new.
Swen Vincke’s intervention at the Game Developer Conference has gone a long way. In addition to being entirely honest, as with the loud accusation against publishing companies and their greed as the fundamental cause of the unprecedented wave of layoffs in recent months, he has also given us some hints about the future of Larian Studios, which to the surprise of many doesn’t include more Baldur’s Gate.
“We are a company of big ideas. We are not a company that’s made to create DLCs or expansions,” Vincke said during his speech at GDC. “We tried that actually, a few times. It failed every single time. It’s not our thing. Life is too short. Our ambitions are very large.”
“Baldur’s Gate will always have a warm spot in our heart. We’ll forever be proud of it but we’re not going to continue in it. We’re not going to make new expansions which everybody is expecting. We’re not going to make Baldur’s Gate 4 which everybody is expecting us to do. We’re going to move on. We’re going to move away from D&D and we’re going to start making a new thing.” However, they have made it clear on social media that they have not yet done supporting Baldur’s Gate 3, for which there are planned updates for the modding community and new cinematics for some of the endings.
What is the future of Baldur’s Gate?
Regarding the future of the franchise, the founder of Larian pointed out the obvious: “It’s going to be up to Wizards of the Coast because it’s their IP, to find somebody to take over the torch,” Vincke said. “We did our job and for us it’s time to get a new puppy.” The use of “puppy” is no coincidence here, as Baldur’s Gate 3 had the codename “Gustav,” which was the name of Vincke’s beloved dog, who died last February. The new beginning goes in more ways than one.
Of course, after the great critical and commercial success of Baldur’s Gate 3, Wizard of the Coast was quick to confirm to its bosses and shareholders at Hasbro that they would have more D&D video games in the future. The license has had its ups and downs in the world of video games, with moments of non-stop gaming about Faerun and The Forgotten Realms, along with other seasons in which it has barely been lavished in these parts. Baldur’s Gate, precisely the most successful video game series linked to the franchise, spent decades in ostracism until the conditions were met for a third installment to emerge. Right now there is a survival game set in this world, by Gameloft, and also Project Baxter, a project for 2026 by Starbreeze.