Game News The developers of Baldur’s Gate 3 were working on a project that almost became Baldur’s Gate 4, but they preferred to put it aside
Baldur’s Gate III is undoubtedly one of the most successful video games of its time and Larian Studios has done an admirable job: the developers are now working on another project… and no, it is (a priori) not Baldur’s Gate IV.
A sequel was almost nipped in the bud
The least we can say is that Larian Studios has taken up the torch with a masterful hand: originally conceived by BioWare, the Baldur’s Gate saga has finally passed through the corridors of the Belgian studio, already author of the highly rated Divinity: Original Sin. The rest we know: Baldur’s Gate III is a true marvel that has achieved exceptional sales figures and won so many awards that it has even upset the developers in some ways.
During an interview with PC Gamer, the CEO of Larian, Swen Vincke, announced that he and his teams were working on what almost became Baldur’s Gate IV. After all, it was the logical next step after the relocation of Baldur’s Gate III.
Swen Vincke
When a game is a big success, everyone asks you: “When are you going to make the sequel?” As a developer (…) you tend to do the obvious thing, which is to make an add-on or a standalone add-on or start working on a sequel because that’s the easiest way. And that’s what we started doing because we have the engine, everything we need: just add extra levels or create new stories. Is that hard?
As a result, Larian actually started working a new game in the saga. And it was even playable:
I think you all would have liked it. Actually, I’m sure you would. Actually, it was pretty quick because the production machine was still hot. We were able to play it.
But did we really want to do this for the next three years? Because we thought we could do it in a year, but we realized it wasn’t possible, that it would take two or three. And since we’d just done six years of Dungeons & Dragons, which isn’t our thing, were we really going to spend all that time doing this and give up on our own projects?
On the way to new adventures
It is therefore Faced with these doubts and the decline in motivation, Larian Studios decided to cancel this potential Baldur’s Gate IV and move on to something newwhich therefore turns out to be a brand new game in development.
We should all strive to do things that excite us.
The situation changed quickly and I don’t think we as developers have ever been better since we made that decision. Honestly, it’s impossible to explain or express how liberated we are. Morale is high simply because we’re doing new things again. […]
The spark has to jump. Here we presented our projects to our own teams. “We’re doing this. Are you excited about it?” That’s the question everyone was asking. Are we really excited? You really have to have that enthusiasm.
Larian Studios had all the cards in their hand to create a new Baldur’s Gate. but he seemed visibly tired of having to spend years relying on a formula that he knows and that is essentially not his. Obviously, there is reason to be curious about this brand new project…
