Whether there will ever be a Baldur’s Gate 4 is still uncertain. Because the studios apparently fear developing the game.
It sounds like one of the greatest honors one could ever receive. Because which game studio wouldn’t be eager to develop a sequel named Baldur’s Gate 4 after Baldur’s Gate 3? At least, one would think so. But the studios decline. Because for many, it seems impossible to even compete with the predecessor?
Who declined? We’re talking about Studio Archetype, which belongs to Hasbro and thus to Wizards of the Coast – the license holders of Baldur’s Gate. Archetype is currently known mainly for working on the sci-fi epic Exodus. After Larian declined to develop Baldur’s Gate 4 themselves, they offered their own Archetype studio the opportunity to take on the sequel. Archetype is run by two veterans. Both James Ohlen and Kevin Martens worked on Baldur’s Gate 2 many years ago. So they are familiar with the world and the challenge.
Larian is too powerful to want to replicate
What was said? In an interview with PCGamer Ohlen explained why they did not seize the opportunity to develop a Baldur’s Gate 4. This is mainly due to the phenomenal success of Baldur’s Gate 3, which basically overshadows everything that has come before:
The day [when Hasbro] knew they wanted to do it, they called me. ‘Hey James, what do you think about making Baldur’s Gate 4?’ And I said: ‘Nothing, I would fail at this and here are the reasons why I would fail.’
Later he explained:
I wouldn’t want to compete against that. Making Exodus is already difficult enough, but competing with Baldur’s Gate 3? That would be insanity.
Ohlen is probably right about that. After all, Larian is a studio that has grown over the years and became known for precisely this type of game – in the style of the Divinity series. Baldur’s Gate 3 has been their biggest game so far and has managed to even excite many for the CRPG genre who otherwise had nothing to do with it. Particularly, Larian CEO Swen Vincke is often praised, even by Ohlen:
Swen [Vincke] will always be the master when it comes to building such things. It’s really hard to knock him off that throne, because of everything – the tools, the institutional knowledge, the team.
Ohlen has since withdrawn from video game development – perhaps that’s why he can speak so freely about these topics.
But even if we probably won’t see a Baldur’s Gate 4 anytime soon, that’s no reason to bury our heads in the sand. After all, the developer Larian is instead working on a new game of their own: Divinity – and it will even be a lot darker than Baldur’s Gate 3.
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