Larian Studios, the studio behind Baldur’s Gate 3, made a big splash at the DICE Awards 2024. The game makers used their speaking time to highlight the current issues in the industry and explained their success formula.
Larian Studios received several awards for Baldur’s Gate 3 at the DICE Awards 2024, including for the story, game design, and game direction. In addition, it was crowned Game of the Year.
When the developers were allowed to give their acceptance speech, they spoke about the current state of the gaming industry. Because it doesn’t look particularly rosy for developers at the moment.
2023 was a year full of layoffs in the gaming industry – and 2024 doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Already in January 2024, Riot laid off 530 employees.
“Elephant in the room, especially amidst all this opulence”
Michael Douse, the head of publishing at the game studio, stated that Larian Studios is very lucky as they received a lot of stage time while others were not given this attention.
He then continued and explained about the gaming industry in general: “In this industry, it’s about people and we are sometimes really bad at showing developers what they are worth […] that is, so to speak, the elephant in the room, especially amidst all this opulence.”
You can watch the livestream of the DICE Awards 2024 on YouTube yourself. To get to Larian Studios’ acceptance speech, jump to 2:48:40.
Michael Douse expressed his respect for all the people whom he believes have not received enough appreciation.
“At the beginning of this year, many, many people were laid off. I want you to know that you are all talented, that you are important, and that you are the future of this industry. Don’t let this flame be extinguished by our collective mistakes … we will hold on as an industry.”
“We don’t have shareholders, but we don’t think about them either”
Not only Michael Douse, but also the head of production David Walgrave took the floor and emphasized that Baldur’s Gate 3 does not use microtransactions: “We just ask you to pay a price for the game, and that’s it – you can own it for the rest of your life. We don’t have shareholders, but we don’t think about them either,” he explained.
Walgrave further stated that Larian Studios does not make decisions aimed at making the most money. Because that doesn’t bring long-term benefits.
Instead, he sees the secret to success elsewhere: “In the long run, building a community, building a player base, building games that are truly enjoyable, brings in the most money, that’s it.”
What to consider: Larian is indeed not a public company like before the acquisition by Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, or Ubisoft, but is privately owned. However, they also have “stakeholders,” as the Chinese conglomerate Tencent holds a 30% stake.
More about Baldur’s Gate 3 on MeinMMO: Baldur’s Gate 3: “On the battlefield like a god” – players believe the strongest class is one of the least popular
