In Baldur’s Gate 3 there are several scenes that are intended for adults only. The head of Larian Studios, Swen Vincke, reveals: even developers felt uncomfortable with it.
What’s the deal? In Baldur’s Gate 3, relationships, romantic scenes, and sex are a big theme. With your companions, you can enter into a relationship, flirt, and sleep with them – if you can make it happen. Especially Astarion is known as a heartthrob who can really hurt with nasty comments.
However, not everyone enjoys the scenes equally. The head of Larian Studios, Swen Vincke, reveals: Not all employees agreed with the high level of sexual content in the game – some even felt uncomfortable.
We try to stay as true to life as possible
What does the head of Larian Studios say? Vincke states that some people in the studio felt uncomfortable. But they decided that the game is for adults and treated it accordingly like a TV series. He particularly refers to American Gods
, a series that he believes handled adult themes and fantasy scenes well.
He says the following:
[…] We try to stay as true to life as possible. […] You can really do crazy things and still identify with it.
[The sex scenes] were always done tastefully. I mean, the famous bear scene – it was really a squirrel that didn’t look. The rest was filled in by your mind’s theater. You filled that in, not us!
Swen Vincke via GamesRadar
Which bear scene is meant? A month before release, Larian Studios showed excerpts of a bear sex scene, for which the studio was even banned on TikTok. The companion Halsin is a druid and can transform into animals. So as a player, you have the choice to become intimate with him either as a human or in his bear form.
Relationships and romances are an important part of Baldur’s Gate 3. The developers relied on professionals from film and television to make the scenes appear as authentic as possible: Baldur’s Gate 3 places so much value on intimate scenes that they even hire professionals from film & television
