With the huge success of Baldur’s Gate 3, the creators of the RPG were confronted with the question of whether they wanted to meet the fans’ demand for more content. Although the answer initially seemed clear, they chose not to for a specific reason.
What is Larian’s stance on DLCs for Baldur’s Gate 3? After the creators of Baldur’s Gate 3 had already announced that they would not be working on a fourth installment of the series and prefer to focus on their own projects instead of the D&D universe, the last hope (certainly) of many fans was also crushed at its inception by Larian’s head: Larian will not produce DLCs for Baldur’s Gate 3.
In an interview with GameSpot, Swen Vincke states that Larian is “not in the DLC business” and they prefer to update Baldur’s Gate 3 through patches and updates instead. He understands the reasoning behind developing DLCs. The studio has also thought a lot about this. The ultimate decision against it was surprisingly simple, but completely authentic, knowing Larian’s attitude towards the gaming industry.
Here you can see the animated short film for Patch 8 of Baldur’s Gate 3:
Larian focuses on happy developers instead of the DLC business
How did the studio realize that they didn’t want to make DLCs? The studio was aware that developing one or more DLCs for Baldur’s Gate 3 would make perfect sense. However, it just didn’t feel right.
“We had a huge success, and people were saying ‘DLC this’ and ‘DLC that’, to which we said we would make DLCs,” explains Vincke (via GameSpot). “But then, when we had a moment to think, we asked ourselves: ‘What are we actually doing?'”
He adds that there simply wasn’t enough passion among the developers found for the development of DLCs, Vincke himself even describes the development as “boring”:
You want happy players and a happy company, but you also need happy developers. What we are doing now makes the developers much happier.
Swen Vincke (via GameSpot)
What is Larian working on instead? Instead of a fourth installment of Baldur’s Gate or DLCs, the studio is already working on two new RPGs. So far, we don’t know much about the new projects – only that the studio head is “as excited as a child”.
While he doesn’t want to reveal much, the possibility should not be ruled out that Larian might try their hand at a new genre. Larian is traditionally a fantasy studio, but it is not tied to that setting, as Vincke himself stated: “There are so many things I would like to do. Just so few things that can be done.” (via PC Gamer)
Swen Vincke has publicly criticized the state of the industry and game development. Perhaps that is why the decision against the development of DLCs for the benefit of the studio and its developers is so relevant, as passion seems to come first for him. Anyone who wants to learn more about the studio head and his attitude toward the gaming industry can find out more here on MeinMMO: Baldur’s Gate 3 is seen as a beacon of hope in modern gaming – The head now denounces what is happening in other studios
