The next part of Baldur’s Gate is to be developed after the success of Baldur’s Gate 3. The rights holder, Hasbro, is looking for a partner to develop a game like Baldur’s Gate 4 – but the search is quite difficult.
Few games have made as much of an impact in the past year as Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian. However, the hunger of Dungeons & Dragons fans is insatiable. Many had hoped that Larian would be tempted to create a DLC or perhaps even develop the next part of the series, a Baldur’s Gate 4. But Larian is leaving Baldur’s Gate behind and focusing on other projects.
This raises the question of whether there will ever be a Baldur’s Gate 4 at all. “Yes,” is the answer to that. At least if it is up to Hasbro, the owners of Wizards of the Coast and thus also of Baldur’s Gate.
However, the search for a developer could prove to be difficult.
A new Baldur’s Gate is coming – and it shouldn’t take 25 years
Who should develop Baldur’s Gate 4? That is the question that Hasbro is currently asking itself. Even though the owner of D&D and therefore Baldur’s Gate would love to work on a realization, finding a developer is proving to be difficult. After all, one must meet high expectations, which have only grown due to the worldwide success of Baldur’s Gate 3. PCGamer spoke about this with Eugene Evans, the Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy and Licensing at Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, who stated:
We are currently talking to many partners and being approached by many partners who want to take on this challenge to figure out what the future of the “Baldur’s Gate” franchise looks like. We hope it won’t take 25 years, as it did between Baldur’s Gate 2 and 3, until we have an answer.
However, they do not want to exploit the current “hype” and produce a successor as quickly as possible:
We will take our time to find the right partner, the right approach, and the right product that could be the future of Baldur’s Gate. We take this very, very seriously, and we do this with all our decisions regarding our portfolio.
What will happen to the heroes from Baldur’s Gate 3? Many are also wondering how the story of the companions and characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 could continue. Whether it is Gale, Karlach, or “The Dark Desire,” the characters are popular – and now a fixed part of the canon, i.e. the official story, of D&D:
Larian has created a very popular group of characters that have been celebrated and awarded in many instances, such as the voice actors and the talents behind them [at the BAFTA Awards]. They are now part of the D&D canon. […] I believe it is too early to discuss specific details, and I think the much larger question is how we approach Baldur’s Gate in the future. But I would love for all these characters, also for the sake of the fans, to potentially appear in other products.
The best villain from Baldur’s Gate 3 was also awarded at the BAFTA Game Awards.
Fans have many concerns: That Larian, with the end of development of Baldur’s Gate 3, has completely handed over popular characters like Shadowheart, Astarion, or Gale to Wizards of the Coast – after all, they own Dungeons & Dragons and thus the IP Baldur’s Gate – is causing concern among many fans.
They fear that the characters will now be treated unfairly and perhaps not with the same love and care that Larian provided. To this, Evans says:
Oh, we have no doubt about it, our community is very passionate and will let us know immediately if we have done something they don’t like. And that is part of why we love them so much. The bar is set very high, and it is our job to exceed it.
Will there be more D&D games soon? There is a small glimmer of hope for D&D fans, as they plan to release several games from the D&D universe over the next few years.
[…] We have invested in new D&D game developments ourselves. These games will be released over the next 5 years and will span all genres and platforms. And I believe there is room within the D&D universe for many different interpretations of what D&D is, as long as we remain true to the things people love about D&D. And we are determined to implement exactly that.
So Hasbro is indeed looking for a team that can develop “Baldur’s Gate 4”. However, the fact that Larian has created such a hit with the third part will likely make the search for a perfect partner quite challenging.
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