In 2023, Larian Studios released their acclaimed role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3. However, in the predecessor title Divinity: Original Sin 2, the developers sprinkled hints about it. Some of them were simply too obvious and had to be toned down before release.
What kind of hints are those? In 2017, Divinity: Original Sin 2 was released by developer Larian and thrilled many role-playing fans. At that time, no one knew that the studio would be taking on a venerable series for their next game: Baldur’s Gate.
As Larian’s CEO, Swen Vincke, has now revealed, there were quite explicit hints before release that Baldur’s Gate 3 was in the works. They were supposedly so revealing that they were adjusted by the developers at the last moment.
Looking back, everything becomes clear
What does Swen Vincke say? In a stream on the YouTube channel Larian: Channel From Hell, the head of Larian played Divinity: Original Sin 2 and talked about the work on it. Regarding the hints and Easter eggs in the game pointing to the then-in-planning Baldur’s Gate 3, he says:
Originally, the reference to BG3 was very explicit. We did that at the last minute because we actually wrote the first draft of BG3 in the summer when D:OS2 was released, as we had a contract with Wizards of the Coast and had to do it at that time. It was very bad.
Swen Vincke
Since the work on Baldur’s Gate 3 was still secret at the time, the Easter eggs could not be too obvious. They were toned down for the final version, but those who find them today will realize a lot in hindsight.
What other Easter eggs are there in the game? There are subtle hints in various places. For example, your companion Fane talks in the epilogue about octopuses working on secret plans. The necromancer Tarquin also mentions strange creatures that feed on thoughts. Does that sound familiar?
It naturally reminds one of the Mind Flayers from Baldur’s Gate 3. Additionally, the game features glasses filled with maggots – here too, one immediately thinks of the tadpoles from Baldur’s Gate 3.
These parasites nest in the heads of their victims and cause them to transform into Mind Flayers. Whether you use the power of the parasite is up to you, but the missing consequences of that disappointed MeinMMO demon Cortyn.
Significantly more difficult is recognizing another allusion: At one point, Tarquin mentions a script language that goes by the name “Gustavchen”. “Gustav” is not only the name of Swen Vincke’s dog, but it was also the project name of Baldur’s Gate 3 during development.
By the way, the standard name for the player character remains Tav.
Larian Studios didn’t hold back from including Easter eggs in Baldur’s Gate 3 itself. They include references to Divinity: Original Sin 2. For example, there are hints about the necromancer Tarquin in a letter from the cleric Lenore De Hurst to the wizard Lorroakan.
Now the question remains to what extent the developers have already sprinkled hints about their next game, Divinity, in Baldur’s Gate 3. One Easter egg, the community believes it has already found: More than 2 years after the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, fans discover a hint in the game about Larian’s new game Divinity
