This was one of the biggest complaints about last year’s Game Awards The show didn’t let the winners talk. Even when people from Larian Studios came on stage to accept it Game of the Year Award for Baldur’s Gate 3They were told to “finish it” and couldn’t even make the announcement that the game was over was available on Xbox. In stark contrast, when studio executives accepted the same award at the DICE Awards in Las Vegas, they discussed the state of the industry at length – and explained why Larian was able to act differently in such turbulent times.
Publishing director Michael Douse said on stage that none of that was the case Baldur’s Gate 3The success would have been possible without the work of all the developers who contributed to the development of the game. He said the industry is “sometimes bad at showing developers what they’re worth.”
“Many, many people were laid off earlier this year,” Douse continued. “I want you to know that you are talented and important and that you are the future of this industry. Don’t let our collective mistakes extinguish this flame. I know everyone here is scared because this shit really sucks. All your predictions are wrong and it’s scary. But we will endure as an industry, we will endure as an industry, and you will all find your place and you will all be welcomed with open arms. And we’re going to keep making games for the players and for you and with these guys.”
Production manager David Walgrave then spoke about community building as an important part of Larian’s philosophy – and cast shade on microtransactions and companies beholden to their shareholders (like the Embracer Groupwhose CEO’s callous comments about recent layoffs sparked widespread online backlash earlier this week).
“What we’ve tried to do over the last 20 years is to treat people the way we ourselves would like to be treated as gamers, as gamers,” he said. “That’s why we don’t make decisions that we think will make us the most money. In the long run, building a community, building a player base, and making games that are actually fun is where you will make the most money.”
In the Months since then Baldur’s Gate 3 started On PC, the game is considered a shining example of what the AAA machine is should It’s about creating a huge, high quality game without microtransactions and other predatory monetization systems. Much of this is only possible because Larian is its own majority shareholder, although Tencent holds a 30 percent stake. This means Larian is well-funded but not subject to Tencent’s whims when it comes to design decisions. It’s a privileged position, but it’s also encouraging to see the Larian team championing the value of people in an industry that has just been laid off Thousands of them in the last six weeks.
Larian has just been released Baldur’s Gate 3‘S sixth major patchwhich adds new kissing animations for love interests and a wealth of bug fixes.
