Baldur’s Gate 3 is a huge hit that has even surprised the developers. Michael Douse, the Director of Publishing at Larian Studios, is now revealing one of the secrets to its success. The fundamental insight was already gained by Walt Disney 70 years ago.
How successful Baldur’s Gate 3 is:
- Baldur’s Gate 3 was released in August 2023 in a rather niche genre. While classic role-playing games have a strong fan base, they rarely become true blockbusters. The developers therefore expected 100,000 players at their peak – in the first days alone, there were 700,000 on Steam. Later, it reached the millions.
- In general reviews, the role-playing game was also well received. On Metacritic ratings, it even surpassed the acclaimed Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
- Shortly after, Baldur’s Gate 3 swept all awards: at the Golden Joystick Awards, the game received more awards than the director could carry, and shortly thereafter it was crowned Game of the Year.
This is what makes the game so good: In a longer tweet, Michael Douse shares an important insight that the development team gained during development. He says that humor is the key to success.
When Larian was working on and testing the campaign, the shared information in the game was great, but participation kept declining. During testing, it simply became boring. The solution:
[…] We focused on how funny sharing information can be, just as much as the quality of the message itself. Once we did that, engagement skyrocketed, and people began to enjoy the “ride” of the campaign. If I learned one thing during Baldur’s Gate 3, it is that you need to make people smile to create a real sense of resonance […] Humor is the engine of patience.
Douse explains that this insight was already gained in the 1950s. At that time, the “Jungle Cruise” was introduced in Disney theme parks, a sort of documentary roller coaster. Walt Disney himself heard a mother say that she would not ride it because she already knew it.
After a conversation with his colleague Marc David, he said: Of course, “it’s not funny, there’s no humor.” Once this criticism was addressed, the ride not only became better received but also significantly more realistic.
Shortly before release, Larian caused a small scandal with a clip and clarified what kind of humor you can expect from Baldur’s Gate 3:
Baldur’s Gate 3 offers every kind of humor
Baldur’s Gate 3 is filled with humor that is sometimes simply funny, sometimes blunt or very dark, and sometimes even balances on the edge of being inappropriate. One of the best examples of this is the barbarian, a playable class.
Barbarians are traditionally rather “dumb” and therefore have quite simple reaction possibilities, but they are very well received in the community because they are simply funny in the respective situations.
When you talk to a magical mirror that seems very mystical and wants to guard its secrets, you can persuade it as a bard, discuss with it as a wizard… or throw a stone at it as a barbarian.
You will constantly be confronted with situations in which you have to laugh or at least smile. And even if it’s just when Astarion coldly says: “Of course, I am talking about sex. But not with you.”
At the latest, the narrator will make you laugh with a dry comment about your own stupidity while simultaneously informing you about what you actually need to do.
However, humor is not the only reason for the success of Baldur’s Gate 3. The game was in development for many years before the release and for a good part of the time even already playable. This is actually something that is absolutely frowned upon in the industry. However, it worked for Baldur’s Gate 3: because many fans played the game early, it became such a huge hit.
